FamilyMatters
by Leela Starsky
Summary: This story picks up where "One Night on Bespin" left off...
1. Chapter 1

NOTE: In my version of this galaxy far, far away, the Galactic Standard Year consists of ten calendar months, each containing 40 days, or four ten-day weeks. A Galactic Standard Day consists of twenty, fifty minute hours. But this is usually deferred in preference to local time.

 **This story is part three of an arc that started with** _ **Forty Days to Bespin**_ **and continued with** _ **One Night on Bespin**_ **. There are also references to my other stories,** _ **The Princess and the Sith Lord, Mission to Galadan**_ **,** _ **Under Coruscant,**_ **and** _ **Ice**_ **.**

 _Inspirational music: "Blade Runner" soundtrack by Vangellis, "The Dish" soundtrack by Edmund Choi, "X-Men" soundtrack by Michael K-men, "Paris" the musical soundtrack by Jon English, and "Chess" the musical soundtrack by Benny and Bjorn from ABBA._

FAMILY MATTERS

By Leela Starsky.

CHAPTER ONE.

She was on Coruscant. Lying in the middle of an enormous bed draped with mollemar silk, itsbrilliant colours subdued by the soft light from the aromatic burners scattered around the room. Grinning up at the predatory-looking Corellian poised over her, delighting in the fact that he was about to make love to her, Leia Organa decided that at this particular moment in time she was the happiest woman in the Galaxy. She considered teasing Solo a little longer; considered wriggling out of his embrace and making him chase her around the bed again, but the noise of their boisterous game had brought Luke to the door last time and she didn't want the Tatooine farmboy there again.

A warm breeze drifted through the open window, stirring the feathers scattered all over the room. Feathers that had exploded from one of the pillows when she had hit Han with it. Leia's grin broadened at the memory and Solo's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"What?" he wanted to know.

Leia's look became gentle and she whispered, "Love you."

Solo nuzzled the side of her face as he manoeuvred himself between her legs and murmured, "Love you too, _wife_."

 _Wife_. Leia let herself wallow happily in the moniker. They _were_ just pretending, but it was nice to let herself believe it. Just for a little while…

"Husband," she heard herself tease softly.

"Mmmm," he growled, and she wondered if he had any idea what the sound of his voice did to her. How the deep rumble of it seemed to touch her very core.

 _I should tell him_ , she thought. _Tell him before it's too late_ …

Then the carbonite slab hit the platform with a resounding _smack_.

….

Leia Organa woke with a gasp and the cold, hard reality of her cell slammed into her. She curled into a foetal ball, longing to escape back to her dreams. Escape from the prospect of Vader, escape from everything the Empire stood for, escape from the thought of going on without Han.

She took a shuddering breath and tried to calm the panicked race her heart was doing. Tried to force herself to relax, but she was trembling from cold as much as anything else. It had been such a pleasant dream too…

She closed her eyes, remembering the bed that she and Han had been forced to share in Farrouq's mansion on Coruscant over two years ago. When the risk to her life had required them to pretend that they were husband and wife. They had not made love then, but part of her wished they had.

A muffled wailing penetrated her cell and she put her hands over her ears to block it out. The door to her cell was thick, but by no means sound proof. Hearing the misery of fellow inmates was an integral part of the psychological torment of incarceration.

She had heard them drag Chewbacca out some time ago, his protests and bellows almost clear enough for her to make out his words. She hadn't heard him since and it worried her to contemplate what the Imperials might be doing to him. Shipping the Wookiee off to some slave-labour camp probably. And this time there would be no Han Solo to rescue him .

Tears snuck out from beneath her closed lids. No Han Solo to rescue Chewie, no Han Solo to rescue _her_ , and she seriously doubted Luke would be racing in any time soon.

The shock of finding out that Darth Vader was Luke's father had rendered Leia speechless. She remembered the wave of revulsion she had felt, and the awareness of it being expressed all over her face by the look of bitter self-loathing on Luke's, but shehad been powerless to stop it. And while the saner part of her could understand how horrific the revelation must have been for Luke, her own overwhelming _pain_ had left her unable to cope with the blow.

Chewbacca had dragged her back from the brink of insanity by demanding her help with shutting down the ship, and Leia had responded immediately. This was something she could do; something she could comprehend. Then Calrissian and Chewbacca had gone to the trouble of disabling the droids and hiding them in one of the smuggling compartments before the _Falcon_ settled into the docking bay the Super Star Destroyer was dragging it into. It had disturbed Leia at the time, not because she thought hiding the droids was a silly thing to do, but because it had left her alone in the cockpit with Luke. Vader's son.

Appalled with herself, yet still unable to speak to him, Leia wondered how Luke had suddenly gone from being her friend, someone she had loved and trusted for almost three years, to _Vader's_ _son_?

Leia sat up, wiped her hands across her face and wished she could wipe away the last forty hours. Wished she was still on the _Falcon_ with Han. Thinking about him had tears springing behind her closed lids, and Leia pressed her fingers against her eyes in an attempt to stop them. But all she could see was Han's face as he was lowered into the carbonite pit, his eyes telling her how much he loved her and how afraid he was. Not for himself; for her, and her chest ached so much it hurt.

 _Everything I touch, everything I love_ _ **dies**_.

Despite her efforts to the contrary, Leia sobbed. She hid her face further behind her hands, aware that she was undoubtedly under surveillance and angry with herself for showing weakness. The memory of the invasive surveillance she and Han had suffered on Bespin washed over her. The lustful, sneering looks from the Imperial officers. It exacerbated her despair, and she could feel her body trembling as she struggled to squash her emotions.

She wanted to scream. Wanted to rage. Wanted to lash out at those responsible. She wanted to kill Vader for taking _everything_ she cared about and destroying it in the most violent way possible. Alderaan, her home, her family, her _life_. Leia knew Vader was not responsible for the Empire, but she was too distressed to think rationally. He had become the focus of the Empire for her and, as a result, the reason why she was a Rebel. And now he had taken not just Han and Chewie from her, but Luke as well.

Abruptly Leia's distress and outrage reached flash point, ripping a scream from the depths of her soul as she threw herself against the door. Not in any attempt to escape, but to overwhelm the pain in her soul with physical pain while she screamed herself hoarse.

Finally spent, she slid trembling to the floor, wishing desperately for the numbness that had overwhelmed her after Alderaan's destruction.

….

Vader felt her. Felt her dark rage like a palpable force and moved to the screen that displayed the Princess' cell, awed by the potential she represented. The young woman was a hair's breadth away from using the Force. Using the _Dark_ side of the Force. Her unbound anger would make her formidable.

His Master would see her as a threat, without question. Would insist upon her immediate termination. By his rules there could only ever be two Sith; a Master and an Apprentice. But Vader had decided to change that rule.

The Dark Lord of the Sith had lost faith in his Master with the destruction of Alderaan, and he was well aware of Palpatine's intentions for his son. The Emperor wanted Luke dead, without a doubt, but if Palpatine could replace his current Dark Lord with a new one; one that wasn't bound by the constrictions of a life-support suit, Vader had no doubt at all that Palpatine would do so.

Vader, of course, had his own agenda for his son, which he supposed his Master suspected too. It was the way of the Sith; for the Apprentice to kill the Master and take on an Apprentice of his own, and Vader intended to have Luke as his Apprentice. But the Princess of Alderaan was a wild card none of them had foreseen.

Could he take on two Apprentices and survive? Vader felt certain that he and his son working in unison would be unbreakable; butwould the girl sour that? Would she come between father and son in a way that would render his plan unworkable? It was possible. Yet he sensed that if he turned the girl, his son would swiftly follow. Her presence would certainly curtail any more suicide attempts from Luke, and there was a distinct possibility that she would bind the three of them more adroitly than he and Luke could ever be alone.

With her, Vader sensed, his usurping of Palpatine was a certainty, without her it was only a possibility.

How could _Organa_ have spawned such a child?

He turned to the screen that showed his son, knew that he had felt her as well, and decided it was time to talk to him. Soon they would be on Coruscant and the game would become deadly.

…..

Luke was in pain. Everywhere. His head ached, the arm from which his hand had been severed was throbbing and the abrasions and contusions all over his body reminded him of their existence every time he moved. But it was the chipped and broken bones that really hurt. The pain-killer that Leia had given him had worn off several hours ago and, it seemed, the Imperials were in no hurry to top it up. They didn't want him comfortable. They wanted him incapacitated and controllable.

They had him under twenty-hour guard in a private section of the medcentre, and Luke wondered when Vader would make his appearance. He had expected to find the Dark Lord waiting for him when they were dragged off the _Falcon_ , but hadn't seen Vader since boarding the Super Star Destroyer. He knew Vader was there, was as aware of Vader's presence as he knew Vader was of his, and couldn't help wondering what the Sith Lord was waiting for.

He was half asleep when he felt Leia's rage touch him like cold spectre, and the implications rendered him speechless. He had suspected her Force sensitivity for several years now and, when he had finally broached the subject on Hoth, had been met with a mixture of hostility and humour. Leia did _not_ want to know.

Luke knew what the Dark Side felt like. Yoda's teaching there had left an indelible impression, and Vader's presence was a constant reminder. To feel a wave of it from the princess was almost heartbreaking, and Luke couldn't stop himself from crying out, physically and mentally, "Leia, _no_!" But he knew she hadn't heard. She was far too deep in her own misery to hear him.

But he knew Vader had felt her, was drawn to the darkness in her like a sandworm to vibrations in the sand. And, like the sandworms of Tatooine, he moved with a singular purpose: to _feed_. But unlike the sandworms that had been contained to one sector of his home planet by a man-made mountain range, Darth Vader was free to feed on the galaxy.

Darth Vader, his _father_.

Luke grimaced, grieving the loss of the father he had imagined all his life. The father Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had told him about: the freighter captain. It was the freighter captain who had inspired Luke to hone his piloting abilities, and becoming a freighter captain himself had always been an attainable goal. The father Kenobi had invoked in his imagination was of another calibre entirely. Anakin Skywalker the Jedi Knight. The Jedi Knight, Kenobi had told him, had been betrayed and murdered by Darth Vader.

Suddenly the father of his imagination had been thrown into an entirely different theatre. One of galactic peace-keeper and warrior. And Kenobi had woken the same abilities in him; had helped him touch the Force. From that moment there was no turning back. Luke had made learning as much as he could about the Force and the Jedi Knights his new goal, and had spent the last three years wielding the only hard evidence he had of the man who had sired him: his father's he had lost, along with his innocence, on Bespin. Ironic that it was his father who had parted him from it.

He felt the Dark Lord approach the medcentre and closed his eyes in resignation, Yoda's prophetic words echoing in his mind: "You will destroy all for which they have fought and suffered." How could he have been so _stupid_? So _arrogant_? And why hadn't Yoda and Ben _told_ him?

Luke heard the telltale rasp of the respirator as Darth Vader entered the medcentre. Listened while the Dark Lord dismissed the troopers standing just inside the door as he stepped into the small room, and then the door hissed shut. Luke felt his father deactivate all the surveillance devices in the room with a thought, and opened his eyes to regard the dark figure at the end of his bed. He sensed they were each waiting for the other to break the silence.

Not one to mince words or waste time, Vader said, "You felt her."

Luke nodded. There was no point denying the fact.

"How long have you known?" the Dark Lord asked.

"I've suspected her for a while now," Luke replied flatly.

"But you haven't taught her anything?"

"She… _ **"**_ Luke considered Leia's reaction to his suggestion that she might have been the cause of Han's miraculous recovery after the cave-in on Hoth. That the princess had somehow used the Force to save the Corellian's life. "She didn't want to know," he said.

Luke felt Vader subtly probe the surface thoughts and emotions in his mind, seeking a quick answer, and didn't have the energy to block him.

"She fears it," Vader observed, and Luke sensed the Dark Lord's inability to comprehend Leia's lack of power lust.

"She fears what she may _become_ ," Luke clarified, knowing he did not have to voice his thought, _…a Sith Lord like you_.

Vader paced away to one corner of the small room, then turned to look back at him, his hands clasped casually behind his back. "And you?"

"I will not join you."

"Yet you accept the truth that I am your father."

Luke looked away; sickened afresh at the prospect of accepting the figure at the end of his bed as the person he had longed to emulate all his life. He sensed Vader touch his mind again and felt his face redden with embarrassment and a sudden flush of anger.

"No," he said crossly. "I accept that _Anakin Skywalker_ was my father."

Vader stiffened slightly then said, "That name no longer holds any meaning for me."

"Then you are not my father," Luke snapped.

Vader seemed to consider this for a moment then he said quietly, "They tried to kill you when I turned. Do you remember? You were about two…"

"What?" Luke asked, frowning. " _Who_?" _Who would kill a two-year-old?_

"The Jedi," Vader replied. "They sensed your potential and labelled you too dangerous."

Luke's eyes narrowed and he tentatively tested the Dark Lord for suspected falsehood. And met with resistance. Then abruptly an image came to him. An image of a woman with long, dark hair holding the lightsabre he had lost on Bespin. His _father's_ lightsabre.

"Your mother revived you," Vader said quietly.

Luke concentrated and, using the Force, explored the image further. Was it a true memory, or something Vader had just put there? It _felt_ true. And the woman certainly looked like the one in the holo he'd kept in his bedroom on Tatooine. The holo Aunt Beru had given him when he was seven.

In the vision, he was looking at the woman from an angle that suggested someone was holding him. Someone wearing black gloves…

Luke withdrew from the vision and looked at the black spectre at the end of his bed. "You were there," he said.

"I sensed your… distress," Vader admitted, but Luke got the definite feeling from the Dark Lord that he meant 'death'.

"They _killed_ me?"

"Your mother revived you," Vader repeated.

The _Jedi_ had killed him? They'd considered an infant _that_ dangerous? Luke shifted uncomfortably as he considered this new information. Just what did they think him capable of, he wondered, then looked at the answer standing at the end of his bed. _Much anger in him; like his father_ , Yoda had said in his initial protests against training Luke. Was Yoda right? Was he destined to repeat his father's mistakes?

Luke closed his eyes and berated himself; _I should never have left Dagobah_. He focussed on the various pains in his body for a moment, using it to distract himself from the pain of failure and betrayal. _Ben, why didn't you tell me?!_

"He didn't teach you self-healing, did he?"

Luke opened his eyes, startled by the nearness of Vader's voice, and found himself looking directly into the visor of the Dark Lord's helmet. Was even more shocked to realise he could see the man's eyes. They appeared to be blue, like his own.

Luke shook his head, unable to answer Vader's question, and felt a wave of anger from the Dark Lord as he stalked back to the other side of the room.

"Made sure they taught you all the _warrior_ skills," he growled scathingly. "Turned you into a guided missile and pointed you at _me_."

With a shock, Luke realised Vader was right. That was exactly what Yoda and Kenobi had done. Trained him with the express idea of using him to kill Vader. Using him to correct _their_ mistake. _He betrayed and murdered your father…_ Luke felt a surge of anger flush through him at how well he had been manipulated. Of course they hadn't told him Vader was his father! He might not have been such a _puppet_ if they had!

Vader's hand encompassed his face and Luke was surprised to realise he no longer feared the man. He felt the pain in his body lessen, knew that his father had somehow used the Force to help him, and couldn't help wondering what catastrophe had forced him into the suit.

"I am not healing you," Vader told him. "Just lessening your pain. I can't risk you trying to escape or kill yourself."

It was a reprimand of sorts, and Luke accepted it. He was grateful to feel a little more comfortable and the lessening of pain made him able to think a little more clearly. It made him wonder why Vader did not use the Force to heal himself. In his limited experience, Luke had always thought of the Dark Side as being more selfish, yet Vader obviously had the ability to help others.

Exploring this new insight, Luke came to the surprised conclusion that the man before him was not evil. Dark, yes. Savagely efficient, yes. But not evil.

"What made you turn?" he asked.

It took so long for the Dark Lord to answer that Luke thought he was going to avoid the question all together.

Finally he removed his hand from Luke's face and replied simply, "You don't know the power of the Dark Side."

"Easier, more seductive," Luke said, quoting Yoda, then risked baiting the man further by adding, "There's still good in you; I can _feel_ it."

Vader regarded him sharply and Luke sensed the Sith Lord was glaring at him, despite the fact that he couldn't see the man's eyes from this angle. He felt a spike of anger from Vader, which faded as quickly as it had come.

"It is too late for me, my son," Vader said quietly.

"I will not join you," Luke told him, hoping he sounded more convincing than he felt. "I will not turn, and you'll be forced to kill me."

"Perhaps," Vader agreed without looking at him. "Or the Emperor will." He paused in the act of opening the door and looked back at Luke. "The Emperor must not find out about the princess. He will kill her without question."

"What are you going to do with her?" Luke asked, terrified of the answer.

"Teach her how to conceal herself," Vader replied, and opened the door.

Luke watched the door shut as the Dark Lord left the room and wondered how receptive the princess would be.

….

Leia looked up apprehensively as the door to her cell slid open. Her anger had subsided somewhat but her irritation levels were at their peak. Her menses had started on Cloud City, but now it had stopped again, probably due to the stress of waiting to be tortured. Leia wished it would simply come and be done with. Not that she had any way of dealing with it _here_. That thought left her even more affronted and, despite the personal nature of her complaint, Leia had decided that the next officer through her cell door would cop her full ire. When Vader stepped into the cell she hastily reassessed her decision.

"I am not here to torture you, Princess," the Dark Lord assured her matter-of-factly.

"Really?" Leia snapped defensively. "Then what do you want?" She folded her arms across her chest and suggested sarcastically, "Here to regale me with your scintillating conversation?"

"We are one day away from Coruscant," Vader explained. "I want to show you how to protect yourself."

Leia regarded him with disdain. "From what?" _What could be worse than you?_

"From the Emperor."

"Why?"

"You have the Force, Leia Organa. As soon as he senses this he will kill you."

 _Senses?_ The Emperor was Force sensitive? That explained a lot, but why Vader would want to protect her from him was a mystery.

"What have you done to Luke?" she demanded.

"He is in the Medcentre."

"And Chewie?"

"You care about the Wookiee?"

"Yes, I care about _the Wookiee_!" she snapped. "I care about a lot of things which I'm sure _you_ could never comprehend."

"The Wookiee has been assigned to a position where his talents will be most useful," Vader said.

" _Slave labour_ ," Leia said scathingly. "Why not just execute us and be done with it?"

"Executing a potentially valuable resource is short-sighted and foolish. I can assure you, Princess, I am neither."

Leia felt a deep wave of loathing flood through her. This was the monster who had tortured her on the Death Star, who had made her watch while Tarkin destroyed Alderaan, who had used _Han_ as a test subject in the carbon freeze on Bespin. Leia fanned her hatred and glared at the Dark Lord.

"No!" Vader said sharply. "That is like illuminating yourself as a Sith Lord." Leia took a step back, horrified, and the Dark Lord pressed his point. "To hide yourself from the Emperor you must feel _nothing_."

 _Nothing_? She wondered, and then it came to her, _Like after Alderaan_ … Oh, how she wished she could reach that state of _not_ feeling! Had been struggling to reach it since everything had gone to hell on Cloud City. But opening herself emotionally to Han had put a crack in the shields Leia Organa had built around her feelings. And like oxygen through a puncture in a vacuum suit, her emotions seemed to be enlarging the fissure as they escaped.

Vader's demand enraged her. How could she feel _nothing_ when the cause of all her distress was standing in front of her? How could she feel _nothing_ when Han had been reduced to a block of organic metal and was being delivered to Jabba the Hutt? Thinking about Solo smothered her rage with a thick blanket of depression and made Leia's lip tremble, forcing her to bite the inside of her lip to still it. She turned away from the Dark Lord; afraid he would see the tears in her eyes.

"Draw it in, Princess," she heard him say. "Draw it in and hold it tight. Cherish the pain and use it to make yourself stronger. Harder. Unbreakable."

 _Yes_ , Leia told herself, desperately trying to revive the person she had been on Hoth. _Like ice_. The Ice Princess. Cold, hard and unbreakable. _And currently brittle enough to shatter into a million pieces_ , the unhelpful part of her mind told her.

A flare of anger lit in her again, but this time it was directed at herself, and was as cold and hard as the rest of her emotions.

"You have exceptional control, Princess," Vader told her and she glared at him, her eyes full of cold hate.

"Exceptional," Vader said again, then left her alone in the cell.


	2. Chapter 2

FAMILY MATTERS

By Leela Starsky.

CHAPTER TWO.

The Emperor refused the prisoner transfer to Coruscant, much to Vader's surprise. He knew his Master would want to inspect the boy immediately, and was disturbed when the Emperor insisted on visiting him on the _Executor_. Disturbed because it suggested that his Master was displeased.

The Emperor had a throne room of sorts on the Super Star Destroyer. A large, mostly empty space, which was attached to suites he had never used. It was in this throne room that his Master had insisted on scrutinising Luke Skywalker.

As Vader led his son through the ship to where the Emperor was waiting, he found himself wondering what he would do if his Master chose to kill the boy on the spot. Would he stand by and let Luke die? Could he be _that_ obedient? With the Princess of Alderaan and all the possibilities she represented as his back up plan, Vader decided he could afford to lose his son. He did not want to; sincerely hoped he would not have to make that choice, but he was not prepared to risk his plans at the cost of saving his son.

In front of him, Luke stumbled and was jerked back onto his feet by the officers flanking him. The boy had barely slept since his capture over Tatooine, and was seriously exhausted from pain as well as lack of sleep. At the risk of angering his Master, Vader used the Force to lessen the boy's pain, and watched him stand a little straighter as a result.

For his part, Luke was quite certain he was walking to his death, and was grateful for the ease in his suffering and the small amount of dignity it restored to him. He had been worrying about Leia for days now and found himself wondering if Han had felt something similar as he was led to the carbonite platform. That all-encompassing concern for a loved one about to be left behind. But Han had not known the sort of danger she was in; had not known she was being courted by the Dark Side of the Force. Luke had not felt the dark whisper of her anger again, but he suspected it was still there, simmering beneath the surface, waiting to come pouring out through a crack in her armour.

Luke took a deep breath and tried to quell his anxiety. All that was out of his control now. Now he had to focus on his own soul.

Darth Vader could feel the cool disdain for his son from the officers walking beside him. To them his son was nothing more than a captured rebel about to meet the full ire of the Emperor. He sensed an eagerness in them to witness the boy's punishment and would have liked to Force-choke them for their impudence. But they were neither worth the energy nor the ire such an action would undoubtedly provoke from his Master, and he doubted the Emperor would permit them to stay.

The large doors to the throne room opened before them, red Imperial guards stepping aside to allow them entrance, and Vader directed his son to the dais at the far end. The only thing on the dais was a large chair that looked out through a wall of window, across the planet of Coruscant, which seemed to glow from within like the corusca gems for which it was named. The chair turned towards them as they approached and Vader sensed a lust-filled eagerness from his Master as he contemplated the boy.

"Leave us," the Emperor commanded the Imperial officers, and they immediately bowed and left the room, the great doors shutting behind them.

Luke felt an element of surprise at the advanced decrepitude of the wizened man before him. He had not expected the Emperor to be so old. He was doubly surprised as he felt a cold wave of darkness radiate __from the twisted creature, and berated himself for his lack of foresight. Of course the Emperor was a Sith Lord; it made perfect sense. As did the man's unflinching grasp on the galaxy.

"So, Lord Vader, you succeeded at last."

Palpatine's voice seemed as ruined as his features, and Luke found himself wondering if perhaps the man was not as old as he appeared, that Dark Force use had taken an unspeakable toll on the Emperor.

Luke watched Vader bow and answer, "Yes, Master."

"Something of a poor specimen of manhood," Palpatine opined contemptuously, and Luke had to stop himself from laughing inappropriately. It was the sort of ironic comment that he could hear Solo laughing uproariously at, and Luke found himself wishing he could share it with the Corellian.

The Emperor leaned towards him a little and said, "I am looking forward to completing your training, young Skywalker."

Luke summoned his courage and looked the man in the eye. "You can kill me," he said calmly. "You can kill my friends. But you can't kill what we stand for. And one day you'll die. And your Empire will die with you."

Palpatine laughed. A hacking demented laugh. " _Die_? I have no intention of _dying_ , I can assure you."

Luke took a leaf out of Han Solo's book and sneered at the withered man who looked so near death already. "Even _you're_ not that strong," he said.

Palpatine hooted derisively, "Oh, but I _am_ , young Jedi." He leaned eagerly towards Luke. "I have clones prepared and waiting for me to move into." Luke regarded him with arrogant disbelief and the Emperor chuckled. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"I don't doubt _you_ believe it."

"He can do it."

Luke glanced at Vader, the Dark Lord's quiet words causing a whisper of doubt to cross his mind.

"You cannot comprehend the power of the dark side," Vader added.

"If you two are anything to go by, I'd say it chews you up and spits you out!" _Thank you, Han_! _Thank you for attitude_!

He must have hit a nerve because Palpatine scowled and hissed at him.

"Besides," Luke added smugly, "we all know how unstable clones can be." Perhaps Palpatine was already a clone? Maybe that's what the problem was? Where the madness came from?

Palpatine leaned back into his chair. "Your sister has provided the solution to _that_ problem."

Vader and Luke both looked sharply at the Emperor and he cackled at them.

Luke felt Vader probe his mind and looked at him as the Dark Lord asked suspiciously, " _Sister_?" As far as Luke knew, he had no sister, and it was obviously news to his would-be father.

"The child she is carrying has an unparalleled sensitivity to the Force," the Emperor said, then gloated, "The child will be _mine_." He smiled wickedly. "Will be _me_."

Luke suddenly remembered the Spice-induced vision he'd had of Solo's red-haired daughter almost three years ago, during his mission with Han and Leia to Galadan. And all at once he _knew_. Knew without a doubt, and he almost staggered. _Leia_? Leia was his _sister_?

The Emperor leaned towards him and said, "You've _seen_ her, haven't you?"

Luke looked up at him, haunted by the image of the child, and Palpatine grinned delightedly. "You have! And you _know_."

Luke looked away, feeling something akin to panic. _No. Not Han and Leia's child_! "No," he murmured, then met the Emperor's eyes once more and repeated carefully, "No."

Palpatine smiled maliciously and touched one of the many controls on the arm of his chair. A door on the far side of the room opened and Leia was roughly led in by two stormtroopers. Looking at her, Luke was shocked by how ill she looked.

He watched her sum up the situation in a second and label herself __'coercion'.

She shouted, "Luke, don't do it!"

The Emperor laughed and she was led across the floor to them. No one could see the Dark Lord's face, but Luke could feel Vader's shock at the revelation that the Alderaanian Princess was his daughter. Luke did not know how it was possible, but it explained Leia's latent Force talent.

At a signal from the Emperor, the stormtroopers let her go and left the room. Leia ran the rest of the distance to Luke and, ignoring the various pains throughout his body, Luke hugged her like he would never let her go.

"Are you alright-?" he started, but she cut him off.

"The worst they can do is kill me," she said into his ear. "Whatever it is they want you to do, don't do it."

Luke looked at her without letting her go. She was carrying Han's child and Han was who-knew-where. They didn't even know if he would survive. Luke searched, but could sense nothing of the child through the Force. Too early, and he suspected Leia herself didn't know. The thought of the Emperor taking the child filled him with fear and loathing.

Luke took a deep breath and crushed her to him again. She was his _sister_.

"I love you," he told her and Leia frowned. He let her go and turned to face the Emperor. "Alright," he said. "You have me. Let her go."

Palpatine regarded him incredulously for a moment, then burst out laughing, "You think you can _bargain_?"

"I'll do whatever you want," Luke said darkly. "Just let her go."

" _No_!" Leia shrieked.

" _You_ are mine," Palpatine snapped, stabbing his finger at the young man. " _She_ is mine. The _child_ is mine." Leia frowned and Luke could almost hear her shocked thought, _What child_? "It's almost a pity the child isn't _yours_ ," the Emperor continued. "It would have been most amusing if _all_ of us were Skywalkers."

He cackled and the look Leia gave Luke clearly said, _What is the insane bastard raving about_?

"In fact," the Emperor went on, "I may even marry her." He scowled at Vader. "Your father ran off with my last bride and _you_ were the result. Seems fitting somehow that I take his daughter." He paused then added, "And grand-daughter."

Vader did not flinch, but Luke noticed the Dark Lord's hands form into fists and a realisation hit him. Anakin Skywalker had loved her; had loved their mother. Whoever Darth Vader was now and whatever he had done, Luke _knew_ that the man he had once been had loved their mother. It was something Luke hadn't even realised was tormenting him, but to know that he had been conceived with love… That Vader was capable of it or had been… It took the edge off the horror Luke had been suffering since the awful revelation on Bespin.

It occurred to him that, from the Dark Lord's reaction, he still loved her. Somewhere, in the depths of Vader's soul, the man who was his father still existed.

Leia wasn't making head or __tail of any of it. Father. Bride. Daughter. What _was_ the lunatic babbling about? What she did understand, or what she thought she did, was that Luke had just pledged himself to Vader and the Emperor in an attempt to save _her_. And that was unacceptable. The galaxy would not survive _another_ Dark Jedi.

Her final thought was, _Forgive me, Han_ , then she twisted with a speed and agility he would have been proud of, snatching Vader's lightsabre from his belt, igniting it and slashing it through the space the Emperor occupied in one fluid movement.

Except that he wasn't there any more. But the chair was sparking spectacularly.

Palpatine, livid that she had got so close, raised his hands and lightning flew from his fingers and enveloped her. Screaming, Leia dropped the lightsabre and fell to the floor, writhing in agony.

" _No_!" Luke cried, rushing to help her, and heard himself scream as the lightning enveloped him as well. "The child!" he begged, hoping to appeal to the Emperor's own desires. "The child!"

The lightning stopped abruptly and Luke slumped across the princess in a vain attempt to protect her should the Emperor start spitting lighting again. Never in his life had he seen such a display except in fantasy or science-fiction holos. Was that a strictly Sith power? Was Vader capable of it? And why hadn't Yoda and Ben warned him? Luke summoned the energy to lift his head in time to see the Emperor switch his glare to Vader.

The Dark Lord seemed to hesitate a moment then bent and retrieved his lightsabre. Luke tightened his grip on the princess as Palpatine moved a step closer to peer at them. The Emperor made a derogatory sound in his throat then turned to Vader.

"Keep control of your offspring, Lord Vader, or I shall have to kill them."

He stormed from the room and Vader called for medics. Luke was sure he could have walked, but Vader would not let him, forcing him onto the second gurney after they had both seen to Leia's.

Looking at her now, as they pushed her gurney out of the room just ahead of his, Luke could see she was barely conscious. Leia, his _sister_. Sighing, Luke closed his eyes and wondered how she would take the news. Considering her reaction to finding out that Vader was _his_ father, Luke didn't think she would cope very well. As for the child she was carrying… She and Han had finally sorted out their differences it seemed.

Luke couldn't help feeling a certain level of irritation towards the missing Corellian. Although he had wanted his two best friends to acknowledge their feelings for one another for a long time, Luke was peeved that they had been careless enough not to prevent a pregnancy. Leia would be mortified when she found out, he was sure and yet, with Han missing, would be determined to keep the child. Han on the other hand… Assuming he survived his carbonite prison, Luke was worried how Han would react to the news.

As for the Emperor's plans… Luke was determined not to let them come to fruition. Somehow, he would have to get himself and the princess off the _Executor_ and out of Coruscant space.

He opened his eyes as they entered the medcentre and saw them transferring the princess to a permanent bed. He heard her try to protest as they bound her wrists to the bed, then she slipped into unconsciousness.

Luke sat up, straining to hear the instructions Vader was giving the medic treating Leia, but was distracted when he realised that he was being scanned himself. This medic didn't look at him once, concentrating instead on the information displayed on the small scanner in his hand as he waved it back and forth across Luke's body. He spent a relatively long time focussing the scanner on what was left of Luke's right arm, then turned to Vader as the Sith Lord approached and pronounced, "He is well enough to attempt the surgery."

Luke looked warily at Vader and the Dark Lord explained, "You are being fitted with a cybernetic hand."

"What about Leia?" Luke asked looking across at the princess' bed. "What are you going to do to her?"

"That is not your concern," Vader replied coolly.

"She's my _sister_!" Luke spat vehemently. "She _is_ my concern!"

"Shall I have him restrained?" the medic asked Vader.

"Do you need to be restrained?" Vader asked him and Luke scowled.

"That depends on what you plan to do to my sister."

The medic must have decided that Vader could handle him, because he moved away into another room.

"You are rashly accepting of the claim," Vader said carefully.

So Vader was having trouble accepting the fact that Leia was his daughter, Luke thought with some irony. But Luke could feel the truth in Palpatine's revelation as much as he could feel the truth in Vader's. Leia was his sister, he had no doubt, but he surmised Vader would want DNA confirmation of her parentage.

"Maybe you should look up Solo's genealogy while you're looking up Leia's," Luke suggested sarcastically. "So you can be prepared for what their child will be like."

Luke felt an intense spike of anger from the Dark Lord and came to the swift conclusion that Vader was anything but impressed with the princess' choice of partner.

"You disapprove of Han," Luke said quietly.

"I disapprove of the Princess of Alderaan allowing herself to be defiled by Corellian _slime_ ," Vader said harshly.

Luke squashed an automatic impulse to leap to Solo's defence, knowing that Vader would refuse to hear it. Instead he asked hotly, "Who are _you_ to tell her who she can and can't love?" He slipped off the repulsored gurney and walked over to Leia's bed. She was still unconscious and looked very pale, and it occurred to him that she was still wearing the snowsuit he'd last seen her in on Hoth. He touched her face gently and searched again for any sense of the child she was carrying in the Force, but still he felt nothing. Part of him hoped the Emperor was wrong, for Leia's sake, but Luke's memory of his Spice-induced vision strongly suggested otherwise.

He turned and looked at Vader who was standing at the end of her bed, then glanced at the cast covering the stump of his arm and sighed. "Let's get this over with," he said.

…..

Leia struggled to consciousness, found herself strapped to a medbunk and immediately started straining against the straps holding her down despite the pain in every one of her joints. A 2-1B med-droid moved into view.

"There is no need to panic," it told her. "You are safe-"

"Let me go," Leia demanded.

"The restraints are for your own safety-"

"Let me _go_!" Leia shrieked, struggling desperately.

"Please calm down or I will be required to sedate you."

She caught sight of Vader approaching, a human medic at his side, and wondered if the Sith Lord could feel her terror. She suspected he could and wondered what sort of kick he got out of it.

"I want a complete genetic test done on the princess and the child she is carrying," Leia heard him tell the medic, and felt her heart lodge in her throat.

 _Child?_ They thought she was _pregnant_? Why would they think that?

"There will be a risk to the embryo-" the medic was saying.

 _But there is no embryo…_

"A _complete_ genetic test," Vader repeated.

 _Why_ did they think she was pregnant?

"Yes, Lord Vader."

Leia suddenly felt dizzy as she tried to wrap her brain around the concept and wondered for a moment if this was some sort of bizarre response from Vader _feeling_ her 'Force bonding' with Han on Cloud City. How could she be pregnant? Solo had assured her he was using contraception!

Abruptly the Emperor's words came back to her – _The child will be mine_! And somehow it all made horrible sense. The nausea, the vomiting, the amenorrhoea. _Goddess, no…_

"You will inform me _personally_ the minute the results are available," Vader said.

 _No, I can't be!_ Leia was verging on panic. _He told me… told me he was safe…_

 _He_ _ **lied**_ , came the horrible voice in her head. The one that lay in wait to gloat at her, 'I told you so!' _But it doesn't look like you'll be pregnant for very long_ , it added.

"Yes, my Lord," the medic assured him. "They should be available by the time Skywalker comes out of surgery."

Luke was in _surgery_? Then she remembered, _Of course… his hand_ … Vader and the medic moved away and she could hear the medic calling instructions to his staff. _Preparing_ , she thought. Preparing to take her child. She had no doubt that was Vader's intention. _The child will be mine_ , the Emperor had said. Palpatine wanted her child so Vader was going to take it from her for him. Take it from her and grow it in a tank. Palpatine's new plaything.

Struggling frantically against her bonds, uncaring that she was rubbing her wrists raw, Leia felt a horror and fear greater than any she had ever known.

"Please be still," the 2-1B med-droid said.

They had taken Alderaan from her, then Han, and now they were going to take all she had left of Han. She had not planned the pregnancy, but it was becoming more precious to her by the second.

"Please be still," the 2-1B med-droid repeated.

Desperate and outraged, Leia screamed her frustration and terror at the droid, "Let me _go_!"

"I will be forced to sedate you," the droid said, producing a hypo. "You are harming yourself."

"No!" Leia shrieked, lunging away from the droid. But her arm was still bound and the droid pressed the hypo against her wrist. "No," Leia begged. "Please!" But heard the hypo discharge despite her plea.

Her screams had attracted the attention of the medic who approached her bed, irritation evident on his face.

"I have sedated the patient, Sir," the 2-1B told him, lowering the bed to a horizontal position as Leia slumped slightly with the forced relaxation of her muscles.

The medic grunted his acknowledgment and leaned over to look hard into the princess' eyes. Leia was aware but unable to do anything sudden with her muscles.

"Please..." she begged. "Don't take my baby…"

The medic frowned then turned to the 2-1B. "What did you give her?"

"Standard dose of nesavarbol, sir."

The medic grunted his approval then told the droid, "We'll do the procedure here. Give her five minutes then put her under."

"Yes, sir," said the droid.

" _Please_ ," Leia begged, fighting the sedation to gain the medic's attention once more. " _Please_ don't do this."

The medic eyed her warily for a moment, then walked away.

Leia felt an unreality descend over her. Like the one she had experienced after Alderaan's destruction. Totally helpless and powerless. Soon would come the blessed numbness she had longed for after they had taken Han. She closed her eyes and the tears came unbidden. Trickled out from under her eyelids. _I'm sorry_ , she told the Han she carried in her heart. _I'm so sorry_ …

…..

Vader walked away from the protesting princess feeling no compunction whatsoever. He had to have genetic proof for the claims the Emperor had made, and the fact that his Master wanted the princess' child so badly meant that he had to have the genetic data for that as well.

The idea that the Princess of Alderaan could be _his_ child had floored him completely. If it was true, it meant that his wife had been pregnant when she'd left him and he couldn't help wondering if she'd known. Vader had always been irked by the speed with which she'd married Bail Organa, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the daughter she delivered soon after must have been conceived prior to their bonding. But it had never occurred to him that the child might not be Organa's. That the child was _his_.

And while it explained the young woman's ability to touch the Force, he was concerned about the impact it would have on his plans. Particularly if the Emperor succeeded in his plan to possess and inhabit the infant she was carrying. That could well make his Master invincible.

Vader headed for his private chambers, deciding that a little time outside his suit would help to clear his mind. Then, by the time Luke came out of surgery and the data on the princess was ready for him, he would be able to make whatever decisions the data required of him. Even if it meant terminating his own daughter and the child she carried. With any luck the tests themselves would terminate her pregnancy and then it would no longer be an issue.

…

When Leia woke she didn't know where she was, and it took a few moments for her memories to make any sort of sense. She ached all over and her mouth tasted terrible. The room she was in was completely foreign: certainly not a cell. She was in a comfortable bed, hell; there was even a viewport! A viewport through which she could see jewel-like Coruscant hanging in the sky, accompanied by its ever-present blaze of traffic.

She started to sit up and felt a rush of moisture between her legs, as well as sharp pain in her lower back and abdomen. Leia automatically reached down to see what it was and felt a resurgence of the heartsick numbness when she saw the blood on her fingers.

It was over. They had taken her child.

Overpowering nausea launched her towards what she hoped was a 'fresher and she spent several minutes vomiting into the sani'. Then she matter-of-factly stepped out of the blood-stained surgical gown she'd found herself in, leaving it where it fell, and stepped into the shower stall.

It was a real water shower and yet she stood beneath its soothing warmth, barely aware of it. Thinking about the child she would never know. Maybe one day, when the Emperor decided to parade his new plaything around… she would look at that boy or girl and _know_ … Know it was _hers_. But that child would never know _her_. Would never know Han.

 _Han_.

Leia found herself sobbing suddenly, awash in an insurmountable grief. How would she tell him? And _why_ had he lied? Leia felt an intense flash of anger towards Solo and then felt guilty for being angry with him. How could she feel angry with him when she missed him so desperately?

She refused to believe that it had all been an act on his part, an elaborate plan to bed her. Han loved her; she _knew_ that, had felt him in her soul. And she had been prepared to risk pregnancy to fulfil her desire to be with him, but he had assured her he was sterile! Why would he do that? Why would he deliberately lie to her?

It suddenly occurred to Leia that perhaps he hadn't. That he had honestly believed himself to be chemically sterile. That perhaps the contraceptive had failed.

 _A goddess-given child_ , she thought sadly. On Alderaan all children were considered a gift from the goddess, but unplanned children especially so.

And now hers was gone. Ripped from her body almost before she had been aware of it. For a moment, burning hate like nothing she had ever experienced coursed through her. Vader had taken everything from her. Her home, her family, _Han_. And now… this. Her first child. She hated Vader so deeply, so wholly, that it became a palpable force in her belly. A force so strong that she wanted to cherish it, wanted to hold it in store until she had to face him again so that she could hurl it at him and hopefully kill him with it.

The urge to vomit gripped her again and she purged onto the floor of the shower. Watched it spiral down the outlet with the water and her urge to fight for the greater good. Bent over as she was, she could see the blood trickling down the inside of her legs, and the Rebel Alliance became meaningless. For Leia Organa the fight had become completely personal and she would not rest until she had killed Darth Vader or died trying.

…..

While coming to terms with the genetic data he'd received on the princess and her embryo, and waiting for the Imperial data base to tell him what he needed to know about Han Solo, Vader found himself thinking about the Princess of Alderaan. The discovery that Leia was not just Padme's daughter, but his as well, had left him with a deep sense of loss and betrayal. And he couldn't help feeling that everyone had known except him. Yoda, Kenobi, the Emperor, even Bail Organa must have known! But not one of them had told him. Not even his wife…

The scope of the deception fuelled the Sith Lord's anger and he breathed deeply, focussing it into a dark Force that __he could use to enhance his personal __comfort out of his life-support suit. It was swiftly followed by a second dark wave and it took Vader a moment to realise that this one had not come from him, but was instead directed _at_ him.

He deduced the source immediately.

The princess was awake and angry at him.

Examining the whisper of dark anger from the princess, Vader decided that he would have to train her. He had suspected her of having a natural Force talent, but he wanted that talent bound to him, not wasted on some useless pastime like the Rebellion. But her pregnancy would make training her difficult; would divide her loyalties, and once again Vader found himself mentally cursing the Corellian who had created the problem.

He glared at the file loading onto his screen. His request from the Imperial archives for the most recent data on Han Solo had, of course, produced the Bespin file. Vader had no desire to watch the Corellian bed his daughter again and hurriedly moved to the next file. Nevertheless, the princess' profession of love for Solo as he was being lowered into the carbonite replayed in Vader's __personal memories, and he __felt a moment of disquiet.

The next file had been recorded on Tarkin's Death Star; it showed the Corellian and his Wookiee friend, with Luke and the princess hurrying down a corridor. Vader moved to the next file.

This recording was of Lieutenant Han Solo's court martial and the expression on the young Solo's face was one of cold, hard anger.

Vader requested genetic data and the image __was replaced with text information. A moment later several images appeared. Family records. Biographical details about Perron Solo, Alandra Solo, and their sons, Han and Brennon Solo.

Brennon Solo was currently living on Corellia, an active member in Imperial Intelligence, and had a family of his own. Perron's whereabouts were not known, and the mother had died of unknown causes many years prior.

With a shock, Vader realised he recognised their mother. Recognised her as one of the Corellian Jedi who had stood against his Master during the Purge of the Jedi.

Vader remembered killing her himself.

He immediately called up her file, having to go through several security walls to do so. She was Corellian, but had come from nowhere. Her parents were nobody. And she had been trained as a Jedi. Alandra had defied the Jedi Council edict to marry Perron Solo, in much the same way as Anakin Skywalker had defied them to marry Padme Naberrie. The Solo's had then returned __to Corellia and produced two sons. Alandra had been working for CorSec during the Purge.

Using the Force, Vader recalled the woman's face in his memory. He remembered the taste of her fear as she had fought him, not for herself but for her family. Remembered the depth of his hatred and scorn for her concern at the time. Scorn because, in his mind, the Jedi had just robbed him of his own family.

Little did he know that they had not just taken his wife and son from him, but his daughter as well. Vader sighed and wondered what he would have done had he known.

The comm. interrupted his reverie and he answered the call without activating the visual display. He had no intention of displaying his face to anyone.

"Yes, Admiral Piett?"

The voice on the other end displayed only the slightest hint of nervousness. "My Lord, you asked to be notified as soon as Skywalker woke."

"Thank you, Admiral."

Vader switched off the comm. and activated the re-application of his suit.

…

Leia stepped out of the shower stall wondering if she would have to rip up her sheets to use as sanitary padding and checked the cupboard beside the sink for toiletries. In complete contrast to her experience on the _Falcon_ , it was full of every sanitary device she might need as well as a selection of underwear.

When she returned to the main room, it was obvious that someone had been in there while she was in the 'fresher. Probably a droid. Her bed was freshly made and there was a tray of food on the table.

They were feeding her. Not her usual experience when in Imperial custody.

Curious, she checked the cupboard beside the bed and was almost amused to find it full of clothes. Food, clothing, toiletries… Were they courting her? Yet, despite the comfort and amenities, Leia was very aware that her room was no less a cell.

Pleased to be rid of the hated snowsuit finally, she helped herself to a long navy dress. It was seriously plain and practical, with an almost masculine feel and doubtless the epitome of Imperial fashion. Dressed, she forced herself to do her hair: plaiting then winding it around her head.

Despite the smell of the food aggravating her nausea, Leia sat at the table and forced herself to eat. Who knew when they would change their minds and stop feeding her?

….

Luke looked up from his new right hand to the dark figure opposite. Vader had spent the afternoon teaching him self-healing techniques to hasten his recovery and, as a result, his new cybernetic hand was interfacing with his arm extremely well. But, until the medics removed the nerve block that was stopping him from feeling the pain of the join, they would not know for sure whether he had full feeling in it or not.

Luke had been inquiring about Leia's well-being since waking up after his surgery, yet Vader had consistently refused to discuss her. Vader, Luke decided, was having as much trouble coming to terms with the revelation that Leia was __his daughter as Luke had had with the discovery that the Dark Lord was his father. He also suspected that Vader was as disturbed by the Emperor's plans for the princess, or more particularly the child she carried, as he was.

"Will Palpatine kill her?" Luke asked, and was surprised when Vader replied softly, "Not yet."

So Leia was still pregnant. Whatever tests had been performed on her had not changed that. "Not while she's carrying the child he wants, anyway," Luke muttered sourly.

Vader regarded him for a moment then nodded.

"Is Palpatine a clone?" Luke asked.

"No."

"That's what you've been waiting for," Luke said, with sudden insight. "Waiting for him to move into a clone so you can kill him."

"He will be weakest at the moment of transfer," Vader admitted.

Abruptly, his father's words on Bespin came back to him. _You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this._ And Luke realised with dismay that it could well fall to him to kill the child. Kill Han and Leia's daughter. Could he do that? Could he sacrifice their child for the good of the galaxy?

 _Together we can rule the galaxy as father and son._

Luke closed his eyes, wishing he could ask Ben or Yoda for guidance. Yet could he trust them if they gave it to him? Luke felt sure that killing the child would take him down the same dark path as his father, yet could the galaxy survive an Emperor reborn and even more powerful?

Could he kill Han and Leia's child?

Luke looked straight into Vader's eyes and said in words that brooked no argument, "We have to get her away from here."

….


	3. Chapter 3

FAMILY MATTERS

By Leela Starsky.

CHAPTER THREE.

Wedge Antilles swallowed his disappointment as he watched the approach of the X-wing onto the flight deck of the Rebel cruiser. Disappointment that the newest arrival wasn't Luke Skywalker. Eighty percent of the squadron had made it to the rendezvous directly after the battle of Hoth, but there were a few who, due to mechanical problems, had needed to take a more circuitous route. Plus, for security reasons, the Rebel fleet had moved from the original rendezvous site, which meant the stragglers had to seek them out.

Barlon Chambers, it seemed, had been forced to hide-out on Negavan for the last two weeks. And, while Antilles was pleased to have one of his fellow pilots back safe, he couldn't help feeling miffed that a prick like Chambers could make it back while Luke and the _Falcon_ were still missing.

He sighed as he watched the pilot report in for debriefing, then forced himself to concentrate on his own work. They'd only managed to replace fifteen percent of the supplies lost on Hoth so far, and he'd been put in charge of finding a new avenue of replacement. It was the sort of assignment that would leave any self-respecting fighter pilot wishing he'd gone out with honour in the last firefight.

"Wedge, can I show you something?"

Antilles looked up from his datapad, surprised to find Chambers beside him. The thickset pilot glanced around furtively as he pulled a datachip from one of the pockets in his flightsuit and Antilles, knowing the man's penchant for sharing around pornographic holos, rolled his eyes and growled irritably, "Not now, Bar."

"Wedge, did the _Falcon_ make it back?"

Chambers now had Antilles' full attention and Wedge gave him a hard look that told Chambers he was in no mood for the man's usual bullshit. "Not yet," he said carefully. "Why?"

"I think they've been captured." Chambers waved the chip surreptitiously. "I was offered this on Negavan."

Antilles took the proffered chip and looked at the title. " _The Princess and the Pirate_ ", he read aloud and fixed Chambers with a steely glare. "Tell me this isn't a porno, Bar." Antilles didn't think he'd ever seen Chambers look so uncomfortable.

"I think it's from an Imperial Surveillance Tape."

Antilles immediately turned to the nearest data display to insert the chip but Chambers stopped him.

"Not here."

Wedge considered the man for a moment. If there was one thing Barlon Chambers' wasn't, it was squeamish about pornography. Antilles picked up the personal reader lying on the bench nearby and inserted the chip. Imperial Surveillance Tape could mean only one thing; someone he knew had been captured. And, knowing Luke had not left Hoth in the _Falcon_ , Wedge found himself reconsidering the title. " _The Princess and the Pirate_ " _… Please don't let this be what I think it is…_

Looking over his shoulder, Chambers reached around and jumped the recording forward then let it play. It was obviously a couple having sex. Antilles felt a small moment of relief; he'd been expecting torture or something. He was about to berate Chambers for wasting his time with pornography when the larger man moved the image forward again until the faces could be seen.

Antilles froze. It _looked_ like Solo and the princess. But look-alike stuff was rife in the porn industry. Though why they would want anyone to look like Han and Leia was a little obscure.

He looked askance of Chambers and the pilot said, "You know who it is, don't you?"

"I know who it _looks_ like," Antilles admitted. "And you think it's them because…?"

"Because the creep who sold it to me insisted it was a digital recording from a surveillance record. With _all_ the surveillance tricks intact. I don't have the sort of equipment to put it to the test…but I could zoom in enough to see the scar on Solo's back."

Antilles looked at him. "You're kidding." If Solo's scar was recognisable…

Chambers shook his head. "Those aren't look-alikes, Wedge,"

Antilles looked back at the image on the reader, at the couple in the throes of passionate lovemaking, and groaned, "Oh, gods…" No _, not_ _ **them**_ … It just wasn't fair…

"Plus," Chambers added awkwardly. "It's not like your usual porn, if you know what I mean…"

"No." Antilles tore his gaze from the reader to look at the pilot, almost frightened to ask, "What d'you mean?"

"Well, for a start there's only _them_. I don't think I've seen a human porn tape that didn't involve at least 3 people, and…" he winced uncomfortably, "they seem to _care_. About each other. You know?" He paused then added matter-of-factly, "Plus there's no cum-shot; and that's a pre-requisite in the porn industry."

Antilles groaned and switched it off. Han and Leia making love… Of all the horrible, shitty, sith-loving… _Imperial Surveillance Tape_. "We're gonna have to show someone."

"I know," Chambers agreed and smiled apologetically. "That's why I came to you."

"Yeah, thanks." Antilles was feeling anything but grateful. He pondered their dilemma for a moment then said, "Rieekan's probably our best bet." The general genuinely _liked_ Solo.

" _Rieekan_!" Chambers exclaimed, then hurriedly quietened, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed his outburst. "You can't show him _this_ ," he hissed. "She's like his _daughter_!"

"I know…" Antilles agreed, getting to his feet. "But he's the only one I trust-" _Not to fly off the handle_ , he thought but didn't voice it. _The only one who will look past the content and take this seriously_.

Chambers backed off. "Well don't expect _me_ to come-"

Antilles grabbed him by the front of his flightsuit. "He'll want to question you anyway, Bar. You might as well do it now."

He let the man go and headed for the general's office. Chambers readjusted his flightsuit and followed resignedly. "You know," he said, indicating the reader in Antilles' hand, "I thought they hated each other."

Antilles snorted, "Right!"

"No, really," Chambers insisted. "I thought she'd go for Skywalker, if anyone-"

"Shows how much you know, Bar."

"I guess," Chambers admitted.

…

Sighing deeply, General Carlist Rieekan switched off his personal screen and hung his head in his hands. He had been studying the data Antilles had delivered to him for over twelve hours now. Looking for anything that might tell him where it had been recorded. Anything to give them some clue as to the _Falcon's_ whereabouts at the time. Anything that might help him find the princess…

The content of the data had saddened him greatly. Not because of what the princess was doing with Solo, although that had been very difficult to watch, but because of the invasion of privacy the datachip represented. The fact that Barlon Chambers had _bought_ the datachip on Negavan meant that it was likely available galaxy-wide, or soon would be, and nothing he or anyone else did could stop that. And he could imagine how Leia would feel about it.

If the princess had still been part of galactic politics, this would have ruined her career. As it was, Rieekan suspected her standing in the Alliance would suffer because of it. Only the fact that she was the last Princess of Alderaan, and the Alliance didn't have the luxury of being picky, would stop her from being dismissed completely. It wasn't fair, he knew, but it was the way things were.

Then he considered the possibility that she might not even be alive to care.

Sighing again, Rieekan got to his feet and moved into his private 'fresher, hoping a break and a sonic shower would refresh his mind enough to allow him to see something he hadn't thought of. He knew he should take the information to the other generals, if only for the breach in security the capture of the princess could mean. But he was hoping to be able to at least give them confirmation of capture and a place where it had happened before alerting them to it.

The chime from his cabin door stopped his progress and he walked back to see who might want to talk to him in the middle of the ship sleep shift.

Wedge Antilles smiled apologetically at him as Rieekan opened the hatch, then slipped past him into the cabin. Rieekan let the hatch shut, sensing a level of excitement from the current leader of Rogue Squadron that suggested he had found something.

Antilles held up his own reader and said, "I was going over the data." Rieekan guessed he must have looked affronted because Antilles explained hastily, "It was still in the memory."

Rieekan nodded. "And?"

"Cloud City," Antilles said. He showed Rieekan the screen on his reader, image frozen, then zoomed in on the bedside table in the picture. Moved in so close they could clearly see the reader and stylus beside the glass of water on the table. He zoomed in still further until the writing on the side of the stylus could be read. _Cloud City_.

"Never heard of it," Rieekan admitted.

"Neither had I, General," Antilles said. "So I ran a check. Turns out it's a small Tibanna gas mining operation on Bespin. In the Anoat system."

"Anoat?" Rieekan growled. "Why the hell would Solo take her _there_?"

Antilles shrugged. "Who knows? It's close to the Hoth system; maybe there was a problem with the _Falcon_?"

 _Or maybe he just wanted some time alone with her_ , Rieekan thought sourly. Still, the likelihood of something going wrong with the _Falcon_ was high… __

"I could take an X-wing," Antilles suggested hopefully. "See what I can find out."

Rieekan nodded. "Do it. Before the trail gets too cold." Then added, "Though you might be better off in something other than an X-wing. That might draw unwelcome attention."

"Leave it to me," Antilles said.

…

The small transport with its cargo of thirty prisoners was headed for Kessell, and the Imperials in charge were taking great delight in tormenting their captives with tales of life in the Spice mines. The prisoners were a mixed bunch, mostly non-human, and included several Wookiees. But the biggest mistake the Imperials made was putting Calrissian and Chewbacca together on the same transport.

The moment Calrissian had realised that he was being shipped out with Chewbacca, he knew the odds of their escape had risen dramatically. Playing on the sadistic nature of the Imperials, he had made a good show of protesting loudly and fearfully at being on the same transport with the Wookiees. The Imperials' response was to shackle him to the strongest looking Wookiee there. Chewbacca had played his part by bellowing fiercely and violently shaking the arm Calrissian was shackled to him by. This had resulted in Lando being tossed around like a rag doll, much to the amusement of the Imperials.

Chewbacca was by far the strongest and healthiest looking Wookiee of the group, and Calrissian surmised the other Wookiees had been slaves for some time. They all looked underfed and dangerous, and a couple of them looked insane, but the Imperials had pegged Chewbacca as the one most likely to cause trouble on the trip.

All of the prisoners, except the Wookiees, had been stripped of their clothes, forced into yellow slave-labour uniforms and shackled to the bulkheads. Talking was forbidden, of course, but as none of the Imperials thought Wookiees had a language, Chewbacca and the other Wookiees were trading information openly.

One of the Wookiees whom Calrissian had decided was insane kept roaring at the Imperials, telling them that the others were talking. But the Imperials considered him an animal and simply ignored his constant howling.

Listening to the Wookiees' low level rumble of communication, Calrissian found it interesting that Chewbacca didn't tell the others that the human he was shackled to could understand what they were saying. It suggested an element of trust in him. Or perhaps it was simply that Chewbacca thought Calrissian might be useful later.

While disdainful of his life-debt to a human, the other Wookiees were fascinated and envious of the life Chewbacca had been leading until recently. Most of them had been slaves for over ten years. The psycho one, they revealed, was the youngest of them but had been enslaved the longest – almost twenty years.

So __while the Imperials ignored them, gambling to pass the time, the Wookiees planned their escape. Calrissian made comments and suggestions about their plan from time to time, using the sign language he, Solo and Chewbacca had perfected between themselves all those years ago, and Chewbacca played his part by giving him threatening looks at regular intervals.

As soon as a plan was agreed upon, the Wookiees stopped talking, and the sudden silence inside the prisoner section of the transport was profound. Uneasy, the Imperials stopped gambling and the other prisoners shifted nervously.

"Maybe they _were_ talking?" one of the officers suggested, and was promptly laughed at by his peers.

Then Calrissian watched, dumbfounded, as one of the officers approached the insane Wookiee and proceeded to taunt and tease it by barking at it. The insane Wookiee cowered; backing as far away as its shackles would let it, and whimpered pathetically. Empowered, the Imperial moved even closer to it, growling and barking threateningly, openly mocking the creature.

Quick as a flash and without warning the Wookiee struck. Having coaxed the Imperial to well within its reach, the insane Wookiee tore out the tormentor's throat with its teeth. Before the Imperial's body had fallen to the deck, a blaster bolt hit the insane Wookiee in the head, splattering everyone nearby with blood and matter.

Now the entire transport was in an uproar. All the prisoners were screaming, especially the ones shackled to a Wookiee, and the Wookiees were roaring and throwing all their formidable strength into tearing their shackles from the bulkheads _ **.**_ The prisoner sitting closest to the fallen Imperial, a Devaronian, saw the mayhem as his chance for freedom and grabbed the dead man's blaster, but was felled by a blaster bolt before he could fire it. Another prisoner picked up the fallen firearm, blasted the bulkhead holding his shackles to free himself then succeeded in shooting two of the Imperials before he too was blasted.

One of the Imperials had kept his head, because the blue bolts of a stun beam lanced out and downed three prisoners. At the same time, one of the bulkheads gave way and the shackles slid from the binders on those prisoners' wrists and ankles. It freed three of the Wookiees, one of whom was felled by another stun blast.

Struggling to keep low and out of range of any blaster fire, Calrissian found himself staring at the body of the Imperial who's throat had been ripped out. There, just out of reach on the man's belt, was the command key that would release all their binders.

Calrissian tugged on the shackles that bound him to Chewbacca, trying to get the Wookiee's attention. Chewbacca was crouched low behind the seat in front to avoid being shot, but was intently trying to pry apart the bulkhead holding his shackles.

"Chewie!" Calrissian hissed, and then again, "Chewie!" But Chewbacca either didn't hear him over the noise or was choosing to ignore him. " _Chewie_!" Calrissian yelled and finally succeeded in getting the Wookiee's attention as well as several of the other Wookiees'. He indicated the fallen Imperial and Chewbacca leaned as far from the bulkhead as he could, enabling Calrissian to reach the Imperial and drag the corpse close enough to be able to relieve it of the command key.

He immediately turned and used it on Chewbacca's binders, then gave it to the Wookiee who used it in turn on his own binders.

[Give it to him,] Chewbacca said, handing him the key and indicating the grey and black Wookiee across from them. Calrissian turned to comply and found the other Wookiee glaring at Chewbacca contemptuously.

"Hey!" he said, attracting the angry Wookiee's attention and offering him the command key. "You want this or not?"

The grey Wookiee snarled at him but reached for the key and Calrissian hastily handed it across, hoping he wouldn't get his hand blasted off in the process. The grey Wookiee freed himself and passed the key on.

Their plan had changed a little, but with the Wookiees now free of binders, had a much greater likelihood of success.

The other Wookiee whose sanity Calrissian had doubted had got through to the Imperials and was making a horrible mess. Calrissian tried not to look, but found himself having to duck the odd uniformed limb as it was flung in his direction. Soon the screaming stopped and blasters were passed around. The hatch to the cockpit was blasted open and, although the Imperial pilot and co-pilot put up a fight, they nevertheless shortly followed their companions to a bloody death.

Calrissian started to climb into the pilot's seat and received a howl of abuse from the grey Wookiee. He paused and asked sarcastically, "You want to pilot?" __He melodramatically stepped aside as his assailant made a show of pushing his way forward, then added, "I think you may have a little trouble fitting in the seat."

The comment earned him a blaster muzzle __in his face but he glared resolutely up at the grey Wookiee. Chewbacca slapped the blaster away and an argument ensued between all the Wookiees. Ignoring them, Calrissian climbed into the pilot seat and started reprogramming the navicomp.

A Sullustan slid into the co-pilot's seat beside him and asked in heavily accented Basic, "Where are you taking us?"

"Tatooine," Calrissian replied matter-of-factly.

One of the Wookiees obviously heard and was far from impressed because it howled, [ _Tatooine_?]

"Yes!" Calrissian yelled back loudly. "Me and Chewbacca are going to Tatooine! After that the ship is yours!" He looked at Chewbacca to see if he would find any argument there, and the Wookiee nodded his approval.

…..


	4. Chapter 4

FAMILY MATTERS

By Leela Starsky.

CHAPTER FOUR.

Leia watched as the door to her prison slid aside but she didn't move. She knew she should get out of bed at least; for all she knew it could be Vader walking in, but she simply didn't care. Feeling completely wretched, Leia was indulging herself while she couldn't do anything else and wallowing in an uncharacteristic level of self-pity. She couldn't remember ever feeling so ill, so continuously _nauseous_. She'd felt nauseous many times before but usually, as soon as she vomited, the nausea passed. She had already vomited twice since waking yet still the nausea besieged her.

At first she'd explained it away as a nervous reaction to the trauma of the last few days, but the horribly consistent and unrelenting nature of the nausea suggested otherwise. The idea that they might be slowly poisoning her had crossed her mind, but the fact that she hadn't been able to keep down any of the food they'd given her helped her dismiss it. When she really thought about it, Leia suspected the nausea was hormonal; her body's reaction to having been pregnant but, as that was no longer an issue, __she wondered how long it would take to pass.

She recognised the medic who stepped into her room as the same one she'd seen in the medcentre, just before they'd knocked her out to perform 'the procedure' on her - the procedure that had taken her child - and surmised that he had performed it. The thought fanned the embers of anger still glowing in the depths of her self-pity, but was it was quickly overwhelmed by profound sadness.

Leia closed her eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to force down the tears that seemed so ready to flow at the slightest provocation. Instead __she summoned her control from the place to which it had retreated, opened her eyes and watched coldly as the medic closed the door behind him.

He was accompanied by a 2-1B med-droid, and she wasn't sure whether she should be alarmed by its presence or not. Droids of that series housed a sentient brain, usually human, and usually from a lifeform that had suffered a physical catastrophe that had left only their brains functioning. With a choice of either death or life in a droid body, many chose the artificial support. Unfortunately, the enormous cost of the transfer tended to leave them deeply indebted to the government. A cost they were forced to work off in a sly form of slavery.

The Rebel Alliance had two such droid-people working within its ranks, both doctors and both exceedingly grateful to be free of the Empire. And while Leia knew such people to be quite brilliant, she was still very conscious that this droid-person was Imperial and therefore not to be trusted.

"I have been sent to examine you," the medic told her as he approached the bed.

 _Why_? Leia wondered, but couldn't summon the energy to voice it. They had what they wanted, why were they even keeping her alive?

 _Public execution_ , the cynical part of her brain told her. _They want to make an example of you._

Leia closed her eyes as the medic uncovered her and the 2-1B droid-person started to scan her. She was still lying on her side, curled into a vaguely foetal position, and wondered if they would even notice if she ignored them.

"She is seriously dehydrated," she heard the 2-1B say, and thought bitterly, _Happens when you spend your days vomiting._ Leia knew she was under surveillance; they had to be aware how ill she'd been.

"I recommend a fluid drip," the 2-1B said.

"Standard infuser," the medic agreed, then added, "Give it your arm, Princess."

Leia opened her eyes, surprised to be directly addressed and that he seemed to know who she was. She considered not cooperating. There would be an element of satisfaction in making this difficult for them but, as they would simply sedate her and do it anyway, Leia offered them her left arm and watched as the 2-1B proceeded to attach the infuser.

"Why am I vomiting?" she ventured to ask, aware that the dryness of her throat was making her voice croak.

"Hormonal," was the flat answer from the medic.

Leia held her temper in check and tried to sound reasonable as she asked, "Well, how long before it stops?"

"The standard is ten weeks," he replied, frowning at the scanner in his hand.

"Ten _weeks_?" Leia was horrified. Ten weeks with this level of nausea would kill her.

The 2-1B had finished attaching the infuser and she moved her arm, accustoming herself to the weight. She started to sit up and the medic said flatly, "Remove your underwear. I need to examine you."

"Why?" Leia pulled away from him, revulsion colouring her words. "Think you might have botched the job?"

"You're still bleeding," the medic said, and did not sound pleased with the fact. "Complete genetic testing poses a risk for the embryo."

"Well that's hardly _my_ concern any more, is it?" Leia spat. "Tell me, is the Emperor enjoying his new plaything?"

The medic frowned at her and Leia turned away from him.

"Go away," she said sadly.

"I need to examine you," he repeated.

"Or what?" she said sharply. "Vader'll strangle you?"

"Perhaps," the medic admitted.

"Why should I care?" she demanded. "You don't care about me."

"Lord Vader charged me with your well being, Princess. He will be displeased if my inattention results in the loss of your pregnancy."

"He _has_ the pregnancy!" Leia shrieked, leaping off the bed. "Safe in a tank for the Emperor!" she sobbed. The imagery in her head brought her nausea to the fore once again and she muttered, "Goddess, I'm going to be sick…"

She fled to the 'fresher and was dimly aware of the medic following her, watching her as she retched helplessly over the sani. But, as there was nothing in her stomach, she barely managed to bring up a spit of bile. When the spasms finally stopped, Leia washed her face and rinsed her mouth, catching her reflection in the mirror over the basin. A shadow of herself looked back at her. Ignoring the obviously ill woman in the mirror, Leia turned to face the medic.

He held up the small scanner and indicated a screen and readout far too small for her to see at this distance.

"You are still pregnant, Princess."

Leia felt the blood drain from her face and had to hold on to the basin beside her.

"What?" she said.

"You are carrying a perfectly formed, five- week-old, female embryo."

"What?" Leia couldn't begin to sort out the mess her thoughts had become.

"But there is still a chance you could lose the pregnancy," the medic said. "The bleeding should have stopped by now."

Leia dimly felt her legs give way and braced herself against the wall, sliding down it to sit in an ungainly heap on the floor. _Pregnant_?

The medic approached her and started to help her up, but Leia slapped him away.

"Get away from me!"

"Princess, please let me examine you-"

Leia fought off the rising bile in her throat as she lurched to her feet. "Don't touch me!" she spat.

"I need to check that your cervix is properly sealed," the medic responded. "Or you may well miscarry the embryo this afternoon. Please remove your underwear then come to the bed." He walked out of the 'fresher and closed the door behind him.

Leia stared at the door for a long moment, then proceeded to do as he had requested. There was only a little blood, which she took as a good sign. Numbly, she returned to the main room and, without looking at the medic or the 2-1B, lay on the bed.

The medic proceeded to examine her and she closed her eyes.

 _Pregnant_. She had barely come to terms with losing the child and now she was pregnant again. And it was _female_.

Han's daughter.

"How effective is chemical sterilisation?" Leia asked quietly.

"Depends how long it's been taken for," the medic answered.

"After ten years?"

"One hundred percent."

 _Then how_? Leia wondered. _He_ _ **lied**_ , the horrible voice told her. But Leia couldn't believe that of Han, despite the evidence to the contrary. Somehow she and Han had made a little girl. A little girl that the Emperor wanted.

The medic finished his examination and Leia sighed and sat up, rearranging her nightdress to cover herself.

"There is some cervical erosion," he told her. "But it should settle down. Your cervix seems perfectly healthy." He stood and added, "Stress is a major factor in spontaneous abortion."

Leia regarded the man arrogantly and said, "Being imprisoned and thinking a baby has been ripped out of your body against your will is very stressful."

The medic eyed her for a moment then told her, "Rest as much as you can." He returned his tools to the 2-1B. "The two-one-bee will be back in two hours to change the infuser."

"Wait," Leia said, and started to follow them as they headed for the door. "What about the nausea?"

"Ten weeks is usual," the medic repeated, opening the door. "I estimate you have another five weeks."

"But-"

The door closed and Leia was alone again. Left standing impotently in the middle of the small room, her head a mess of questions. Unconsciously she rested her hands over her belly then, as she realised what she was doing, looked at them. Five weeks.

Five weeks ago she'd been menstruating, struggling to deny the cascade of emotions Han Solo awoke in her. Five weeks ago she had been a rebel leader. Strong, efficient, a respected commander. A _virgin_ princess. Confident in her abilities and her standing among her peers.

Now she was none of those. Princess Leia had changed irrevocably and she did not know how to be the person she had become. The addition of 'lover' to her list of qualifications had been an easy and welcome one, but _mother_ was not one she was prepared for. She knew nothing about pregnancy or babies.

Five weeks.

A wave of nausea washed through her and she sat on the edge of her bed. For the embryo to be that old… Leia swallowed. She would have ovulated a few days after they started sleeping together; and, taking into consideration the time it would have taken for Han's genetic material to meet and bond with hers… Leia sighed and wiped a hand across her face. They could well have set off the biological chain of events that created the child almost the first time they'd made love.

The memory of their first time was so clear… as was her decision at the time to ignore the possibility of pregnancy. Leia had been fully aware of the ramifications, yet had decided lovemaking with Han was worth the risk. The fact that he'd assured her he was chemically sterile afterwards was beside the point. _She_ had known the possible consequences before they'd started, but had decided to play anyway. Now, as far as she was concerned, the pregnancy was _her_ responsibility and she no longer felt any resentment towards Han for it.

The _Emperor_ wanting the child was a bizarre development; one that terrified her completely. And while she had thought they were taking the child from her, Leia had felt fiercely protective of it. Now she found herself seriously considering finding a way to terminate it. But could she throw away a Goddess given child? _Han's_ child? When Han could well be dead…

Leia groaned and lay back on the bed.

Would Vader come for her? Or Palpatine himself?

….

Luke emerged from a deep healing trance and took a moment to orient himself. Vader had moved him from the medcentre and into private quarters a week ago. Private quarters that were a vast improvement on the cell he'd started his time on the _Executor_ in, but which were no less a cell.

His new cybernetic hand was interfacing with his own body remarkably well and surprisingly quickly. He already had full use of it and, despite an occasional deep ache at the interface site and some itching where his own skin was learning to live with the synthflesh, had suffered no pain. The techniques his father had taught him were a revelation too. In the respect that not everything Vader did was Dark. Yet Luke sensed there was a limit to Vader's healing abilities, probably due to the Dark Side of the Force. Vader himself had seemed surprised at how quickly his son was recovering: particularly that most of the damage Luke had suffered on Bespin was healed.

The physical damage anyway.

Luke wasn't sure how to judge the emotional damage. Something of this magnitude was never really 'gotten over'. It was simply something you learned to live with. Like Leia had with Alderaan.

But the lies, the betrayal… Why Yoda and Kenobi had perpetrated such a thing was quite beyond Luke's ability to comprehend and __to some extent he could understand Vader's deep-seated bitterness towards them; Yoda and Kenobi had robbed Vader of his family.

For a moment Luke wondered what it would have been like to grow up with his mother and father and little sister, and felt a deep sense of loss. Of what might have been. And was further saddened by the understanding that it had been taken away by Vader, not the Jedi. It had been his father's choice.

Whether it was because of his recent trance state or his general sense of calm, Luke found himself experiencing what he thought at first was a vision, then quickly realised was in fact a Force enhanced memory. Felt a deep, overwhelming terror as the child he had been was held forcefully under the water in his own bath. Felt himself struggle and drown.

Removed from his two-year-old body, Luke recognised his mother as she rushed into the room; felt her overwhelming distress. And the unreasoning fear and hatred towards him from the perpetrator: a female whom he felt certain was not a Jedi.

Then, as if from a long way away, he sensed a blast of dark energy, which he instinctively knew had killed the perpetrator. It called to him, that dark energy, but was far too terrifying to approach. Luke felt it search for him, _hunt_ , and felt himself flee. Then a soft, familiar warmth called to him and he ran towards it. Felt himself ablaze with healing Force energy.

His mother.

Luke took a gasping breath as his two-year-old self did, felt the small child's fright and confusion, yet was able to remain slightly detached. The terrifying darkness he had felt had taken form and was looming over him. Vader. Luke opened his eyes and the memory faded. The _Jedi_ had done this? It just didn't make sense. And if they had, why had his mother trusted them afterwards?

…

Vader was remembering the feel of that warm, healing energy too. The last intimate touch he'd felt from his wife. The one that had saved his life. Kenobi had left him for dead; had not seen the figure that had once been his apprentice crawl out of the fiery pit into which he had fallen. Had assumed his misguided padawan to be dead.

Maimed and mortally wounded by his Master, Anakin Skywalker had used the seemingly limitless power of the Dark Side of the Force to shield himself from the heat and lava. Had pushed it away from him as he fell and changed the angle of his fall so that he would land on the side of the pit rather than in its molten heart. But the combination of noxious gas, a lightsabre wound to the head that had literally scalped him, and a lung ruined in Kenobi's attempt to pierce his heart with his lightsabre had caused Skywalker to lose consciousness briefly, and his mere proximity to the lava had threatened to immolate him. His clothes had ignited immediately, and Vader remembered feeling his skin blister and blacken as he struggled to pull himself far enough away from the horrendous temperatures, his almost useless remaining lung hopelessly trying to wring what little oxygen it could from the sulphurous air.

A baptism of fire. And the man who had come out was not the same man who had fallen in. But his wife hadn't known that. Hadn't realised that her husband had died and that what was left of the man she had found in the Emperor's personal medcentre was something dark and terrible.

Directly disobeying the Jedi, Padme had attempted to heal what was left of her husband with the Force. Had risked her own life to save his. Taking his pain into herself. Healing the mortal wound in his chest, saving his eyes. Vader could still hear her screams… Screams that had intensified when she was discovered by the Jedi and dragged away from her purpose.

Vader had heard later that it had taken her weeks to recover, and it shocked him to realise that she must have been pregnant through all of that. Pregnant from an intimacy, which had occurred only days prior, that he remembered as being purely selfish on his part. An intimacy he had taken for granted and, as that form of physical release was now denied to him, a selfishness he had lived to regret.

Memories of loving Padme were something Vader had pushed to the darkest depths of what was left of his soul. Funny that they should come flooding out now. And irritating.

He could look back and see that the crack in the dam against his memories had started during his interrogation of the princess on the Death Star and had __culminated as he felt her Force-bonding with her Corellian lover on Bespin. The look of fear and uncertainty on Leia Organa's face when he had told her that Force-bonding was a form of coercion had left the dark side of his nature rejoicing. But it was the discovery that Leia Organa was his daughter that had ruptured the breach completely, and now the memories were cascading through his brain in a relentless torrent.

Thinking about the many Force-bondings he had shared with Padme filled him with a mixture of guilt and longing. Guilt because, despite his arrogant belief to the contrary at the time, Vader was quite sure that the young Anakin Skywalker had coerced the woman of his dreams.

He had been infatuated by her since the day she had walked into Watto's repair shop on Tatooine, but a genuine respect and deep friendship had developed between them over the years as they each pursued their careers.

Then she was betrothed to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. A political marriage of sovereignty to secure the safety of Naboo. It had saddened Anakin but, as a Jedi, it was not like he could offer her any other option. They were close enough friends that Padme could confide in him and he had felt secure enough to tease her. Until he had realised how much she was dreading the marriage.

Then the attempts on her life had started and, knowing of their long friendship and claiming that Anakin was the only man he could trust with his wife-to-be, the head of the Republic had insisted upon Skywalker as her Jedi protector. The Jedi council had encouraged him to take someone older; a full Jedi knight rather than a padawan, anyone _other_ than Anakin, but Palpatine had been adamant. He wanted his wife-to-be to feel comfortable with her protector.

So charged, Anakin had travelled with Padme to her homeworld of Naboo, had met her family, and had spent several carefree days on her special island retreat. A secluded dream world in which their long friendship had flourished into something more. Something forbidden for both of them.

When Padme had come to him that night, it was out of concern for his distress over the recurrent nightmares about his mother. She had not intended to stay, he knew. But his need for comfort had kept her by his side, and making love had seemed such a simple and natural progression.

It was his first time; he did not know if it was hers. And insecurity about his own performance had triggered the Force-bonding. He had loved her so strongly, so deeply, it was something he could not have prevented if he'd wanted to and, after that, she had loved him just as deeply. Something that would have him thrown out of the Order. Something that could well mean the ruination of her world if Palpatine reneged on his deal to protect her resource rich world from the greedy Trade Federation.

It was Padme who had suggested the next morning that the dreams of his mother were visions rather than nightmares. Padme who had insisted they go to Tatooine. But they had both agreed that what had happened between them could never happen again, and had stayed true to their vow all the way to Anakin's former home. And, even though the thought of Padme becoming Palpatine's wife was eating him up inside, Anakin had remained resolute.

Then he had found his mother beaten and tortured, almost to death, in a Tusken Raider camp. She had died in his arms and the savagery and the senselessness of her death had filled him with pure, cold hatred. Hatred that he poured out upon the Tuskens in a Dark Side wrath. The power he had felt was glorious. Glorious and terrible. And while he had later felt remorse for his actions, it did not diminish the hatred. Or his anger towards Kenobi for insisting his visions had been nothing more than bad dreams.

Whether he and Padme slept together or not no longer seemed to matter. It was a surcease she offered and he took. Even after they had returned to Coruscant. Looking back, Vader suspected Palpatine had been well aware of what was going on between his two favourites; had quite possibly orchestrated the whole thing. Without Anakin's devotion to Padme, Palpatine would not have been able to turn the young padawan against the Jedi. And having him remain close to Padme had kept him close to Palpatine as well. All the better for manipulating…

Anakin Skywalker had been so arrogantly confident in using his Force ability to mask his relationship with Padme, it had never occurred to him that there might have been someone assisting him. Of course, with the clarity of hindsight, Vader could see his arrogance at the time for what it was.

It was Palpatine himself who had broken the subterfuge by setting a date for his marriage to the senator from Naboo. Unable to bare the thought of Padme trapped in a loveless marriage, Anakin had begged her to marry him. Duty-bound to the safety of her people, Padme had refused.

So, with all the selfishness and lack of forethought typical for a man barely out of his teens, Anakin had used the Force to nullify Padme's contraception and within a month had her pregnant.

Devastated, as well as terrified by the ramifications, the young woman had fruitlessly tried to find out how such a failure could have happened, but the medics were unable to help her. Anakin, confident in the knowledge that her upbringing and personal reverence for life would not allow her to terminate the pregnancy, was nothing but supportive. He loved Padme desperately. He wanted her to marry him and have their child.

How Kenobi had found out, Vader didn't know, but he could still feel his former master's fury as well as his own immediate response of shame, swiftly followed by righteous outrage. Then had come his dressing-down from the Jedi Council. The Jedi hadn't known quite what to do with their unpredictable star pupil who had done something so dreadfully bad. And then the Emperor had found out.

Palpatine had feigned insult and outrage and used both as an excuse to lash out at the Jedi. Believing her lover's life to be in danger, Padme had forced Anakin to flee Coruscant, taking him with her back to Naboo. But word had reached there before they did, and it was only the intervention of the current Queen that saved them from being lynched by an understandably angry populace on arrival. A world that envisaged Palpatine withdrawing his promises of security from the ravages of the Trade Federation; their hopes and dreams turned to ashes at the whim of boy.

Once again they fled, and Padme had finally agreed to marry him. The Jedi were not happy, but soon they were all too busy dealing with the swiftly degenerating galactic political situation to care. Something Vader could see in hindsight as being orchestrated by his new Master.

Palpatine had stepped up from the chaos of the foundering Republic and declared himself the head of a new Empire. And, to the horror of his wife and the Jedi, Anakin Skywalker had been an avid supporter. Tired of politicians and the time and resource wasting bureaucracy, Anakin saw in Palpatine's new order a way of getting things done. Of seeing achievement.

The birth of his son had fortified Anakin's need for order and a safe environment. If some civil freedoms had to be sacrificed to reach that order, so be it. He had genuinely loved his son and his wife.

But Palpatine was prepared to feed Anakin's thirst for knowledge in a way that the Jedi weren't, and had subtly replaced Kenobi as his guide and mentor. Through Palpatine's eyes Anakin saw the Jedi as little more than an interfering, old-fashioned cult who seemed hell-bent on stopping him from reaching his full potential. Potential that was realised when Kenobi had tried to kill him.

On Tatooine, full of grief after his mother's murder, Anakin had sworn to Padme that he would become strong enough to defeat death. And he had. Despite the pain, despite the cybernetic body parts needed to replace those he had lost and the life-support suit required for the simple act of breathing, Anakin Skywalker had defeated death.

Filled with the Dark Side, Darth Vader had emerged from what was left of Skywalker, great and terrible. Then, when the Jedi had tried to take the life of his son for fear he would walk the same dark path as his father, they had created the method of their own destruction. No longer constrained by emotional ties after his wife and son had left, Vader had become even more powerful as a result. Certainly powerful enough to hunt down and destroy what was left of the Jedi. Yet never quite powerful enough to free himself of the respirator.

Now his Master was intending a more refined version of Vader's feat. Planning to cheat death by shifting his consciousness into the body of another sentient being. He had prepared several clones for this purpose but the forced growth of clones had always made them unstable. A solution to this problem had now presented in the form of an embryonic being who contained not only the genes of the extremely powerful Skywalker line, but the solid strength and stability of the Corellian Jedi as well.

Destined to be extraordinarily powerful, as far as Palpatine was concerned the child was a gift from the gods. Not that the Emperor believed in any. Vader on the other hand saw Palpatine's plan as a distinct threat. He was also surprised by how protective he was feeling of his own offspring. He did not want Luke or Leia killed, and he most certainly did not want his granddaughter possessed.

Watching the princess now on the screen in front of him, from the security and helmetless comfort of his private quarters, Vader found himself looking at the young woman with new eyes. A new perspective. He had respected her as a senator, perhaps because she reminded him so much of her mother, but now he felt a desire to get to know his daughter. Although he knew that any such approach would be met with dark rage. A trait she had inherited from _him_. Rage that would alert the Emperor to the distinct threat she implied. Rage that would see her terminated.

No, much as it sickened him to admit, Vader knew he would have to let them go. There was too much at risk to do otherwise. The repercussions for himself could be dire; Palpatine would _not_ be happy. But, with some subtle training, Luke could be given the skills to walk himself and the princess off the _Executor_. Vader would make sure the _Millennium Falcon_ was within reach...

…

With little to occupy her but regular visits to the sani to either pee or vomit, Leia was ready to rip Vader's head off and almost hoping for execution. She had heard that human women suffered nausea in the early part of pregnancy – _morning_ sickness – but this was an all day and night form of suffering. So relentless and debilitating that Leia was starting to consider death a viable option.

Unable to keep food down at all, she was still on a drip, and spent her time taking out her boredom and frustration on her only visitors – the 2-1B and, occasionally, the medic. The 2-1B had surprised her a week ago by directly disobeying the medic in charge and furnishing her with a notebook loaded with information about human pregnancy. Information Leia had accepted with trepidation but devoured voraciously. Information that assured her that, at six weeks gestation, having to pee every fifteen minutes was _normal_. That her enlarged and aching breasts were _normal_. That nausea and vomiting were _normal_.

Leia couldn't help wondering if her desire to hit Han in the groin with the notepad was _normal_?

But boredom and depression soon took their toll. Were they going to keep her here for the entire pregnancy? The prospect was enough to make her consider trying to damage the seal around the transparisteel window. Nothing like a little hull breach to stir things up.

No one would tell her what had happened to Luke, and the thought of him teaming up with Vader and the Emperor chilled her to the bone. It would bring the Rebellion to a swift and messy end, she felt sure.

And what about Han? Her every waking moment was consumed with worry for him. She had to assume that Fett had delivered him to the Hutt by now, but what was the Hutt doing to him? Had he been revived? Was he brain-damaged? What if he couldn't even remember her?

A thick, almost familiar blanket of depression enveloped Leia and she curled into a foetal ball. Her soul wanted to weep; her whole body _ached_ with the need to grieve, but she would not let it. The grief was too great, and Leia knew that once she started it would be a long time before she would be able to stop.

She heard the door to her room hiss open and didn't bother to open her eyes, expecting it to be the medic or 2-1B. But the all too familiar rasping sound of Vader's respirator sent a surge of adrenaline through her system that almost had her leaping out of the bed. Leia clutched the bedclothes to her chest, scavenging what dignity she could, and hoped she wouldn't throw up in front of him.

"I am not here to harm you," Vader said as the door closed behind him.

 _Vader's new introductory mantra_ , Leia thought sarcastically and snapped, "I don't think you could hurt me more than you already have."

He seemed to regard her for a moment then, with his hands clasped casually behind his back, the Dark Lord moved to stand in front of the narrow viewport and gazed out.

Leia couldn't help thinking facetiously, _Surely the view is better from his own cabin?_ Then a wave of nausea swept over her, tempering her quick wit and leaving her wishing he would simply hurry up and get on with whatever he had come to do.

"How well do you remember your mother, Leia Organa?"

His question triggered emotional needs and responses that had been exacerbated by her pregnancy; a longing for her mother that she hadn't felt in years. Deeply disturbed, Leia scowled defensively.

"Not well enough," she replied, her tone implying that she believed her mother's death was Vader's fault and challenging him to dispute it.

"Do you love the Corellian?" the deep voice asked.

Leia frowned at the black figure, wondering what the hell his agenda might be. She refused to dignify his question with an answer. Vader knew exactly how she felt about Solo. He'd been there at the carbonite pit…

Tears welled in her eyes and she bit her bottom lip to stop it from trembling. Then he turned and looked at her.

"He has made it impossible for me to train you at this time," Vader said. "Nevertheless, Princess, I will come for you."

Without another word, he left the room, leaving Leia staring at the closed door trying to translate the meaning behind his words. Train her? Train her as what? Then suddenly it came to her: _a Sith Lord_. Vader was planning to make her his apprentice. A deep-seated fear blossomed within Leia. Fear for herself and for her unborn daughter. All this time she had been worried for Luke when she should have been worrying for herself...

 _He has made it impossible for me to train you_.

He who? The Emperor? Because she was pregnant and he wanted the child? Or because-

 _Do you love the Corellian?_

Han...

 _He has made it impossible for me to train you_.

Leia hugged herself as comprehension sunk in. Solo had got her pregnant and because of that Vader could not teach her. And, because of his desire to have the child, the Emperor would not hurt her. Solo had taken on the role of her protector almost from the moment they had met. And now, despite the fact that he was locked in a solid block of carbonite somewhere, Solo was still protecting her.

Once again Leia curled into a ball, wrapping herself around the seed of protection that Solo had planted in her; loving the growing child with fierce passion and missing Han desperately.

….

When Luke stepped into her room unannounced, Leia didn't think she could feel more shocked or devastated. He was dressed all in black, washed and clean-shaven, and she knew without a doubt that he had not just stepped out of a cell. Which could only mean…

He had _turned_.

He even looked like Vader, all in black, and there was a new lightsabre hanging from his belt.

"Leia?" Luke was shocked to find the princess huddled in her bed. Shock that was swiftly replaced by fear for her health. "Are you alright?" He reached for her and she flinched away. He held his hands up, palms open towards her in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. "Leia, it's _me_."

She was staring at his hand. His _new_ hand. And suddenly Luke realised how he must look to her. The last time she'd seen him was with the Emperor. Now she thought he'd turned and he didn't have time to explain.

"Leia, come on, we're leaving." He manhandled her out of the bed, disturbed when she didn't fight him. Grabbing a dress out of the cupboard next to the bed, Luke handed it to her. Defeat was rolling off her in waves. She thought he'd turned. Well, good. Maybe she'd do what he said and not ask questions. It was going to take all his concentration to get them out alive.

"Are you taking me to Vader or the Emperor?" she asked as he grabbed her boots and hustled her towards the 'fresher. There was a small tremor in her voice, but he could hear a hint of her usual defiance.

Luke took her face in his hands and whispered earnestly, "Neither. Trust me. Please." He ushered her into the 'fresher and handed her the boots. "Hurry," he said.

She emerged a moment later, dressed, with her hair roughly plaited down her back.

Luke led her out of the room, one hand on her upper arm, and walked her through Vader's ship, concentrating on clouding the minds of the stormtroopers and Imperial officers present. Just as Vader had taught him.

…..

By the time they reached a massive docking bay, Leia was certain her suspicions were correct. Nobody stopped them. That in itself was abnormal; even officers had to report to someone, but Luke walked through the Imperial ship as though he owned it. __It was not until he led her towards a ship that she started to doubt that certainty. A ship she knew had been impounded…

The _Falcon_ rested on the deck in front of her, looking battered and innocuous. And _so_ seductive. Leia held her breath as Luke led her up the ramp, unable to circumvent the flood of memories and emotions the ship evoked. _Hanhanhanhan_ ….

He shut the hatch and said matter-of-factly as he moved swiftly for the cockpit, "I need you to co-pilot."

Leia followed him, slid into Chewie's seat as he settled into Han's, and started pre-flight. Luke was hastily programming the navicomputer and Leia wondered where he was taking her.

Then they raised ship, without even a question, let alone clearance from the docking authority, and Leia's suspicions took hold again. She glanced at Luke as he wove the _Falcon_ through the mass of traffic around Coruscant, wondering cynically if he thought she was stupid enough to take him back to wherever the Rebellion now was.

She checked her instruments, making sure the ship's shielding and hyperdrive were functional. Someone had fixed the ship apparently. _Tampering. Han'll have a fit_ … The thought caught her unprepared. Like he was in the next room… Leia took a shuddering breath, which was more a stifled sob, and struggled fiercely to suppress it. She had to concentrate on the task at hand; not think about…

"I've programmed three jumps," Luke said. "Should be enough to shake any tails." He glanced at her. "We'll decide where we're going then."

Leia nodded, but did not look at him, and a moment later he threw the ship into hyperspace. The shift from realspace into hyperspace had always given Leia the sensation of butterflies in her stomach. This time it exacerbated her nausea. She swallowed several times in an attempt to quell it a little and tried to take her mind off it by watching Luke. He was studying the navicomp intently, waiting for the exact moment to revert to realspace.

He'd obviously programmed a short jump; probably just to the edge of the Coruscant system. And from there? Leia opened her mouth to ask him where he was taking her but closed it as he brought them out of hyperspace and her stomach rolled unpleasantly.

The stars had barely settled into points of light when they were stretching once more, and again the ship was swallowed into the maelstrom of hyperspace. Leia took a deep breath and concentrated on forcing the nausea down. Looking at the swirling madness outside the canopy was making it worse and she closed her eyes.

"Are you alright?" she heard Luke ask, and looked at him. She couldn't help wondering if he had any comprehension of how inane his question sounded to her. All right? With Han gone, herself pregnant, and Luke teaming up with Vader? How could he even ask such a stupid question?

She swallowed again and said flatly, "I'm pregnant, Luke."

"I know."

His words catapulted her back to Bespin and Leia looked at him fearfully, almost gasping at the pain that memory invoked.

Luke sensed her distress but assumed it was because he seemingly knew something he shouldn't, and not wanting to exacerbate her understandable if sudden terror of 'Force' users, he told her, "I was in the medcentre when Vader had you scanned."

"You were there?"

Luke nodded and looked at her. "I tried to protect you and the Emperor zapped me too. __Vader took us both to the medcentre."

"Did you know? That the Emperor was a…" She couldn't say the word Jedi.

"A Sith? No, but it explains a lot."

"Yes," Leia agreed, remembering her time in the Imperial Senate. "Yes it does." Her gaze drifted down to the hands in her lap, one of which was lying protectively over her belly. "I thought they'd taken it," she murmured. "For the Emperor…"

"He wants your child," Luke admitted carefully.

Leia looked at him sharply and asked, " _Why_?"

For the first time in their relationship, Luke lied to her. "I don't know," he said, then hurriedly added, "Vader thinks it's because she's so strong in the Force."

The revelation that Luke knew the sex of her child was not lost on Leia but she dismissed it for the moment to infer, "He wants to make a Dark Jedi of her? Another Sith?" _Like you?_

Luke looked at her for a long moment then said firmly, "I haven't turned, Leia."

He watched her eyes widen slightly as she realised he had heard her thought, then felt her personal shields raise against him, blocking him from her mind. Like Vader, Luke couldn't help wondering who had taught her such a defence.

"Then explain our escape," Leia said, regarding him coolly.

"Vader doesn't want the Emperor getting his hands on your child any more than you do," Luke told her. "He let us go."

"Why didn't he just terminate it?" Leia asked callously. "Terminate _me_?" __She looked away and glared at the instrumentation in front of her, muttering, "Solve all his problems at once."

"He's not evil, Leia."

Luke regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. He doubted he could ever say anything more inflammatory to the princess. Her head snapped round to glare at him and he could feel her rage like a palpable force.

Fear, not just for Leia but for her unborn child, gripped Luke and he determined to set course for Dagobah as soon as these jumps were out of the way. He couldn't risk her falling to the Dark Side, and while he no longer trusted Yoda as he had, Luke couldn't see that he had any other choice. Leia needed to learn how to control her use of the Force _now_.

" _ **Not**_ evil?"

"Leia-" Luke could see she was trembling with rage and reached out to put a calming hand on her arm, but she jerked it out of his reach.

"Don't touch me," she snapped. "Don't _ever_ touch me."

Luke felt a surge of anger in response to her irrational hatred and forced it down. Nevertheless he said hotly, "You have to get past this, Leia! Just because Vader is my father-"

Leia all but leapt out of her seat at him. " _Past_ …?" she yelled. "Past the fact that he tortured me and made me watch while Tarkin destroyed my entire planet?! Past the fact that he made me watch while he tortured Han for _no reason_ , then tested a carbonite freezing meant for you on him?! Past the fact that he just did tests on my baby that could have killed it?!" Leia surged out of her seat then turned and finished savagely, " _Fuck you_ , Skywalker! And _fuck_ your father!"

She stormed from the cockpit and Luke took a deep breath to try and calm himself. Vader had made her watch the destruction of Alderaan? Had tortured Han on Bespin? Was that what he had felt on Dagobah? Han's pain and Leia's anguish? With sudden understanding, Luke realised that this was how Vader had got him to go to Bespin. He wiped his hands across his face. Leia was right. She was right about everything. Vader had systematically taken everything and everyone Leia had ever loved from her, including her friendship with Luke.

And now he was going to take her father from her too. Luke had no idea how he could ever break that to her, then wondered for a moment whether it would be kinder to leave her ignorant of the fact?

Just like Kenobi and Yoda had done with him?

The thought of Leia finding out from Vader or the Emperor decided him. He would tell her now and she would have to deal with it as best she could. Luke checked the navicomp - forty minutes before the next reversion - and followed the princess back into the ship.

He found her in the 'fresher, could hear her vomiting through the closed hatch.

"Leia?" he called. There was no reply and he asked, "Are you alright?"

Inside the 'fresher Leia was kneeling over the head, sobbing, and wishing desperately that Luke would just go away and leave her alone to wallow in the mess of her life.

"Leia?"

He opened the hatch and Leia hastily tried to wipe the evidence of her tears from her face.

"Get out!" she yelled into the bowl. "Can't I even go to the 'fresher without somebody _watching_ me?!"

Luke frowned then said, "I could hear you vomiting."

"That's all I've been doing for the past three weeks!" she said. "Now will you leave me alone?"

"There's more I have to tell you," Luke said.

"I don't want to hear it," she snapped.

"You have to, Leia," Luke told her. "For your child's sake."

Leia glared at him over her arm then got to her feet and turned to the basin. She washed her face and rinsed her mouth out, then turned to face him.

"Bail Organa was not your father, Leia," Luke said, and was surprised to see not shock or surprise on Leia's face, but defensiveness.

She folded her arms across her chest and said, "Vader told you this? And you _believed_ him?"

"I saw the data myself," Luke assured her, then surmised aloud, "But you already knew, didn't you?"

"Bail is on my birth record as my father, but he told me before I moved to Coruscant that he was not my genetic father," Leia admitted. "Nevertheless, I have always considered Bail my father and will continue to do so. He loved me as much as any father would have."

"Do you know what happened to your real father?"

Leia shook her head. "I was told he died before I was born. During the Clone Wars."

"Same thing I was told," Luke muttered. He looked at Leia and sensed she knew what he was going to say before he said it; could feel the fear and denial rapidly building within her. "You're my sister, Leia."

"That's ludicrous and you know it," she said flatly.

"Anakin Skywalker and Padme Naberrie were married for almost three years, Leia. I was two years old when Anakin turned to the Dark Side, and the Jedi tried to have me killed."

" _What_?" The implication that the Jedi were not the perfect knights she had been brought up to believe in seemed to disturb her greatly.

"They were afraid I would be as dangerous and unstable as my father. My mother revived me and made a pact with Yoda, the head of the Jedi Council at the time. As it was no longer safe to train me to be a Jedi thanks to the Emperor, and because they knew my father would train me as a dark Jedi, she gave me to Kenobi to hide.

"My guess is she was just pregnant with you when all this happened and, not wanting to lose another child to the Jedi she married Organa and pretended you were his."

Leia's lip trembled, and the grip she had on her elbows was turning her knuckles white, but she said nothing and continued to glare at him.

"Do you remember her?" Luke asked, hoping to deflect the horror of his revelation.

Leia's lips became a thin line and she nodded sharply, but switched her glare to the floor. He watched her swallow hard and wanted to put his arms around her and comfort her.

"My Aunt Beru gave me a small holo of her when I was seven," Luke continued. "Told me she'd died." He paused for a moment then continued, "I thought the woman in that holo was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. I used to pretend…" he paused and almost smiled as he admitted, " _believe_ … that she and my father were still alive, and that they'd come back for me one day."

He took a step closer to Leia, the hard light in the 'fresher reflecting off the tears on her cheeks, and gently wiped her cheek with his thumb.

"You look so much like her, Leia," he said softly.

Leia started to turn away from him, but he pulled her into an embrace. She allowed him to hold her for a moment then shook her head and disengaged. Luke backed away a little, giving her space, and the lightsabre hanging from his belt bounced against the bulkhead beside him. He took it off and held it out to her.

"This is for you," he said.

Leia looked deeply troubled by it and shook her head.

"For your daughter," Luke clarified. "It belonged to Han's mother."

This time Leia couldn't disguise her shock. "Han's mother was a _Jedi_?"

Luke nodded. "Killed during the purge," he said, and felt a surge of relief as Leia accepted the lightsabre from his hand.

"How do you know all this?" she asked.

"Vader gave me access to the data files," Luke said.

"But… all that stuff about your mother," she argued. "Vader couldn't have known that…"

"No," Luke admitted. "That was a Force enhanced memory. Vader showed me how to do it."

Leia swallowed again. "You _remembered_?"

Luke nodded and said, "Adults will say anything in front of a two year old."

He watched Leia look at the lightsabre in her hand. Unlike the lightsabre he had lost on Bespin, the hilt of this one was beautiful. Ornately and intricately engraved with distinctively Corellian patterns, it bespoke of an owner who was proud of her heritage. Despite the fact that she would have begun her Jedi training at a very young age and therefore spent very little time on her homeworld. Maybe that was why having a family of her own had been so important to her. Because she had resented being taken from hers.

"How-" Leia started to ask and Luke replied flatly, "Vader had it." Then admitted to Leia's unspoken conclusion, "He killed her, yes."

Leia's face screwed into an unsightly visage of grief and fury. "And you think he's not evil?!" She pushed past him to storm out of the 'fresher then turned and waved the lightsabre hilt at him. "He ruined Han's life as well as mine!"

"He ruined a lot of people's lives, Leia. Including his own," Luke said calmly.

Enraged, Leia spat, "He _chose_ that life! He chose that life over _you_ , over your _mother_ -"

" _Our_ mother," Luke corrected, and felt a spike of concern as a dark calm descended over the princess suddenly.

"I will _never_ accept that man as my father," she said coldly. " _Never_."

She stalked into the bunkroom and shut the hatch.

Sighing, Luke returned to the cockpit.


	5. Chapter 5

FAMILY MATTERS

By Leela Starsky.

CHAPTER FIVE

Mos Eisley hadn't changed at all, Calrissian decided. It had been almost seven years since he'd set foot in the place but it could have been yesterday for all the difference it made. The same unrelenting heat seemed to suck the moisture right out of him. The same dull-eyed locals, the same pirate-infested spaceport and cantinas. The same pathetic denizens lurking in the back alleys.

He and Chewbacca had parted company with their fellow convicts over a week ago in Mos Espa, where Calrissian had stolen clothes from a drunk human in one of the back alleys. The garb was already well worn and even threadbare in places but, after a couple of days, at least it no longer smelled like its old owner.

Chalmun's cantina was the first step to Jabba, and stepping down into the cool dimness of the place was almost a relief. _Almost_. The likelihood of being killed in here, simply because someone didn't like the look of you, was very high.

Chewbacca went straight through the doorway at the back of the bar to talk to Chalmun, the Wookiee who ran this den, while Calrissian calmly introduced himself into a sabacc match. He and Chewbacca had been mostly stealing to survive for the last few weeks, although he had won them a little money in Mos Espa. Nevertheless, Lando decided that winning a small pot today would help him draw less notice when he had to win larger stakes tomorrow or the next day.

Buying Solo back from Jabba would be very expensive, if possible at all. Calrissian strongly suspected that Jabba would want to make an example of Solo. And, having found out the likely results of an injudicious de-freezing of Solo from a medic in Mos Espa, Lando hoped that Jabba would want to spend a few months gloating at Solo in carbonite before unfreezing him.

Held at blaster point, the medic had been very helpful, and had furnished them with all the information and medications they required to safely thaw Han, should they have to do it out of a medcentre. But, for Solo's sake, Calrissian hoped that they would be able to get him to a medcentre and not have to resort to such primitive methods. There was still no guarantee the Corellian would come out of the carbonite undamaged; in fact the medic had been clinically surprised to hear that the unlucky Corellian had survived the initial 'freeze'.

Chewbacca returned from the back room sometime later, by which time Calrissian had bought them both a meal and a drink with his winnings.

According to Chalmun's sources, Fett had delivered Solo to Jabba a week ago, and the Hutt had hung the slab of carbonite proudly on one of the walls in his throne room. That fit in perfectly with their plan.

Unfortunately, and much to his chagrin, Chewbacca could not go to the palace himself; even he admitted he was too recognisable. And they needed passage off the planet. So __they had agreed that while Calrissian infiltrated Jabba's palace and hopefully succeeded in stealing Solo, Chewbacca would try to steal a ship or at least secure them a passage to the next system.

That evening, Calrissian won enough credits in a high stakes sabacc match to get himself noticed as well as identifying one of Jabba's guards. The guard unfortunately came off second best when he upset a Wookiee and, needing a replacement, the Quarren in charge of the group agreed to take on Calrissian as the guards' replacement.

And so Lando soon found himself sailing south across the endless dunes in the middle of the Tatooine night in a sand skiff with five other guards. He was the only human among them, which helped. Under the current climate, most non-humans hated humans, so he wasn't forced to make small talk with them.

It took several hours and was fully day by the time they got there. Lando was outfitted with everything he would need to defend Jabba and put straight on duty. Jabba himself was completely unaware that he even had a new guard.

It took Calrissian a moment to locate what he was looking for, but finally he found it. Hanging in an alcove to the right of Jabba's dais, in full view of Jabba and any prospective supplicants. The grimace of pain on Solo's carbonite face a grim warning to all.

….

On the other side of the grimace, oblivious to the world outside, Han Solo was existing in a world of nightmares. __The carbon freezing procedure had slowed the synaptic activity in his brain dramatically but, fortunately for him, it hadn't quite stopped. Although he didn't know it, Han Solo owed his life to the Cloud City medic who had flooded his system with a combination of medications just prior to his incarceration in carbonite. A combination that had reacted to the snap freezing of his cells by hyper-oxygenating them. This had allowed most of the cells in his body to expand rather than rupture as they froze, thereby slowing his metabolism to almost nothing without quite killing him. In short, a crude form of hibernation.

For most of his hibernation, Han Solo was unaware but, every so often, a spark that normally flew at a speed of one hundred metres per second would trickle from one synaptic circuit to another, triggering a thought or dream. But the excess adrenaline in his system, also supplied by the Cloud City medic to assist in his resuscitation, turned any moments of consciousness to a constant state of terror and panic. As a result, Solo's dreams were mostly nightmares.

And nearly all of them were about Leia. A result of the lingering terror of what he had left her to. Of what Vader might have done to her. In these nightmares he had watched her raped and murdered under Vader's instruction many times now and, along with the fear he experienced every time, came the all-encompassing shame and guilt. That it was _all_ his fault.

But this time the random firing of his brain triggered a slow but steady release of serotonin and noradrenaline and, instead of feeling pain and an overwhelming sense of peril, Solo found himself wallowing in orgasmic passion with Leia on a grassy plain. Leia looked unspeakably happy and Solo knew he felt the same.

And this time it lasted a small forever.

….

Landing the _Falcon_ on Dagobah was an achievement in itself. Landing it without the assistance of a co-pilot put all of his skills, including his Force talent, to the test. As he completed shut down, Luke couldn't help wondering how Yoda would feel about the intrusion. At least this time he had managed to land on firm ground and wouldn't have to prove himself by trying to lift the ship out of a swamp.

Leia was asleep in the bunkroom and, Luke knew, would be livid when she found out where he had brought them. She had _insisted_ they head straight for Tatooine. Would discuss nothing but rescuing Han. Had attempted to draw him in with various plans. But Luke had told her he wouldn't let her participate in any such rescue. He was aware she had started bleeding again and, he told her, the risk to her pregnancy was too great. So now she was refusing to discuss anything with him at all.

As well as the need to protect Leia, Luke had his own need to see the Jedi Master who had been giving him such intensive training three weeks ago. He needed explanations for the lies he had been fed all his life.

He lowered the ramp and the familiar, distinctive smells of Dagobah filled the ship.

….

They were on Alderaan. How was beside the point, but Leia knew that was where they were. _Home_. Han was bringing her home. They were meeting her family at the Summer Palace and, while she couldn't wait to get there, she had insisted on stopping the airtaxi a good kilometre from the palace so they could walk up.

Han was a little chagrined, she could tell, but prepared to indulge her nonetheless. She could sense his eagerness to reach the palace, as happy to be home as she was. But she could also sense in him a desire to rush her straight to their bedroom, and felt a corresponding ache within herself. But first she wanted to savour the sounds and smells of _home_.

The Summer Palace looked east over the Calapora Ocean from a high cliff-face that stretched for almost thirty kilometres north and south. The spaceport and the city of Beren were almost twenty kilometres to the west, with nothing but windswept grassland between them and the palace.

Leia closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face, then opened them again to marvel at how incredibly blue the sky was, with not a cloud to be seen. Below them the sea shone turquoise, but at the horizon was the deepest azure. To her right __she could see glimpses of the white walls of the palace, sunlight reflecting brilliantly from its many windows, and beyond it – grass as far as she could see.

Exulting in the openness of the world around her, and the wonderful sense of freedom it gave her, Leia dropped the pack she was carrying on the path and ran into the shoulder-high grass beside them. She sensed Han's bemusement as he followed her and sought to tease him by bolting away from him. She felt an overwhelming urge to make love to him right here and now and was delighted to feel an answering spike in his simmering desire as he launched after her.

She let him catch her before they reached the edge of the cliff, laughing as he pulled her down with him into the long grass. Neither bothered to undress, simply baring the essentials before joining in a frantic moment of passion. Her desire for him was white hot and she felt herself start to climax almost immediately. She kissed him desperately as it overwhelmed her, felt herself throbbing around him as he continued to thrust into her. Suddenly breathless, she gasped, then cried his name, "Han!" as he joined her in the crescendo.

…..

Leia opened her eyes but didn't move. She could feel her body spiralling down from orgasm and felt ashamed and excited all at once. The dream had seemed so real, but never in her life had she reached true physical climax from a dream. She closed her eyes again, enjoying the sensations coursing through her body and wishing she could go back to the dream, wishing Han was still there beside her, holding her.

 _Han_.

Sliding her hand across her belly, clinging to the physical evidence that her time with Solo had been real, Leia took a deep breath, rolled onto her back and opened her eyes to stare at the overhead bulkhead. Like an unwelcome guest that wouldn't leave, the ever-present nausea rose its ugly head and washed away any residue good feelings left by her climax. Leia moaned resentfully and closed her eyes again, wondering if she would make it to the 'fresher in time. And even if she did, she knew she'd be faced with her daily dilemma of which end to empty first.

Taking a deep breath, Leia forced herself out of bed and ran for the 'fresher. By the time she emerged, she had realised by the lack of sound from the _Falcon's_ engines that Luke must have landed the ship. Landed the ship without her!

She hurried into the main hold and the cool humidity hit her. _Definitely not Tatooine_. Anger building, Leia approached the ramp to find it down and unprotected. Well trained by Han and her own sense of self-preservation, she slapped her hand over the hatch release and felt a modicum of satisfaction as it slammed down. Furious, she stormed to the cockpit. It, too, was empty and she realised she was alone on the ship, looking out across a vista of swampland.

If she had been able to pilot the Falcon alone Leia would have happily abandoned Luke on whatever planet he'd brought them to.

She stormed back to the bunkroom and hurriedly dressed. Once again she was without choice as far as clothes went and this time had to don the impractical dress she'd been wearing when they'd fled Vader's Star Destroyer. _Just the thing to go traipsing round swamps in_ , she thought sarcastically, roughly weaving her hair into one plait then flinging it over her shoulder to hang limply down her back. But she added a belt to her ensemble. One of Han's belts, already loaded with vibroblade, lamp, a small pouch of rations, powercells and a blaster recharge. She jammed his spare blaster between her body and the belt and, as an afterthought, hooked Han's mother's lightsabre on it as well. _Just for luck_ , she thought to herself. She had no idea where they were or what she'd encounter once she left the safety of the ship, nor was she prepared to take any chances. It wasn't just _her_ life in the balance any more.

Finally, she donned Han's jacket. The one he'd been wearing on Bespin. Despite the obvious humidity outside, the air did not feel warm, and the jacket gave her the advantage of extra pockets to fill with things she might need. Plus it smelled of Han and she took comfort in that. Blaster in hand, Leia opened the hatch to the ramp, stepped through and closed it behind her. She wondered if Luke knew the code that opened it, and took some satisfaction in the image of him sitting at the bottom of the ramp waiting for her to show up and open the ship.

She paused at the bottom of the ramp to take stock of her surroundings, unwilling to step off into the mud before she had to. Luke had somehow managed to land the ship on the only piece of open ground she could see. All around her the trees were draped with vines, mist and heavy with moisture. The strong scent of wet earth and organic decay filled her senses, and the noise of unseen animals was constant.

Where had Luke brought them? There was a strange familiarity about the place that left her with a deep sense of unease and she put it down to memories of the tropical jungles of Galadan or Yavin 4. But those jungles had been hot, this one was cool.

Ignoring her stomach's attempt to heave, Leia hitched up her dress and stepped off the ramp. She took a few steps towards the nearest tree, then wondered where the hell she thought she was going? She had no idea which direction Luke had gone, and the swamplands before her looked unforgiving and dangerous.

As if to encourage her retreat, it suddenly started raining. Feeling particularly stupid, Leia hurried back to the shelter offered by the _Falcon_ , then decided it would be more practical for her to wait in the cockpit. It occurred to her that she should take the time to find something to eat and drink, but the turmoil in her stomach did not encourage that at all, so Leia simply settled herself into Solo's chair, shifted deeper into the warmth of his jacket, and waited.

….

The wait turned into a lengthy one, and eventually she decided to brave the galley, returning to the cockpit with a pre-packaged meal of eggs and a large mug of soup. She was surprised at her sudden appetite and, while not wanting to deny her body the much needed protein, had made sure the foods she picked would be easy to vomit back up. The eggs went down surprisingly easily, and the soup was so enjoyable she actually considered going back for more. But, not wishing to push her luck, Leia remained where she was and, as always, her thoughts turned to Han.

….

Luke was surprised to find the hatch into the _Falcon_ closed and gave the small Jedi Master standing behind him a look of apology.

"She's locked us out," he told the small, green creature.

"Surprised you seem," was the gravelly reply.

Luke regarded him for a moment then nodded penitently. Leia hadn't trusted him since he'd told her who his father was. Of course she would have locked him out. The Jedi Master's response suggested he hadn't expected otherwise from her, and Luke couldn't help wondering if Yoda was speaking from what he knew about the Princess of Alderaan or what he was feeling from her through the Force.

With a mental sigh of resignation, Luke activated the comm.

"Leia?"

…

In the cockpit, Leia jerked awake and looked around in confusion.

"Leia?"

She pushed her hair back out of her face as she sat up properly, struggling to make sense of her situation with a sleep-befuddled brain.

"C'mon, Leia." Luke's voice sounded almost peeved through the small speaker. "Let me in."

Leia glowered at the speaker for a moment then climbed out of the pilot seat and headed for the ramp, hoping her brain would be sharp enough to give Luke a piece of her mind by the time she got there. She opened the hatch then folded her arms and regarded the approaching young man with arrogant affront.

He had anticipated her first reprimand about leaving the outer hatch open because he told her matter-of-factly as he moved into the ship, "You were perfectly safe here, Leia."

Leia was opening her mouth to argue with him when the small, green creature following Luke up the ramp distracted her. He looked like a goblin straight out of an Alderaanian fairy tale.

"This is Yoda," Luke said. "The Jedi Master who has been training me."

Leia frowned. Luke had not mentioned the name before but she recalled hearing it somewhere before. From Han. Why would Han have been telling her about some obscure Jedi Master? Then she realised she was being scrutinised by the creature and her frown deepened.

"Much anger in this one," the Jedi Master opined sagely and Leia looked sourly at Luke.

"Perceptive, isn't he?" she said sarcastically.

"Learn to control it you must, or follow your father's path you will," Yoda warned her.

Leia's anger flared in response and she suspected the creature had baited her deliberately.

"My father is _dead_ ," she told him coldly.

"Think of your child you must," the goblin-like thing said as it approached her.

Leia threw Luke a look of reprimand for telling the creature about her pregnancy, then glared at the wizened creature with affront as it tapped her belly with a small stick and said, "Strong with the Force she is."

"So everyone keeps telling me," she said, fighting the instinct to back out of reach, and resting her hand on the blaster in her belt instead. Without taking her eyes off him, she added, "Touch me again and you'll regret it."

"Leia," Luke warned crossly.

Leia switched her glare to Luke and snapped, "Why aren't we on Tatooine, Luke?"

"Because you've been touching the Dark Side of the Force," he snapped straight back. "And unless you get some training you _will_ be just like our father!"

Leia all but trembled with fury, then stormed away towards the cockpit hissing, "If I could fly this ship by myself…"

She threw herself into Han's chair and glared impotently at the swampland outside. So Luke had managed to find himself a Jedi Master. Leia found that fact intriguing since it had been her understanding that they'd all been killed during the Purge. She remembered her feeling of surprise when her father had instructed her to seek out Obi Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. Surprise that the Jedi Knight had managed to evade capture for so long and consternation that he hadn't been more active in their fight against the Empire. And now here was another one. Leia couldn't help wondering cynically how many other Jedi Masters were out there _hiding_. Whatever this one's reasons, Leia was predisposed to dislike him.

…

In the ring corridor, Luke sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to quell the feeling of frustration and irritation she had provoked in him. Leia was making this as difficult as she could and Luke just wished she would stop being childish. He looked at Yoda and opened his mouth to apologise for the princess' behaviour when it occurred to him that a lot of their trauma was a direct consequence of the Jedi Master's scheming. So he closed his mouth and simply regarded his Master, wondering what the small creature's next move might be.

Yoda and Ben had both explained the reasoning behind their deception. That growing up with the knowledge of who his father was would have been too great a burden for him, plus the need to keep him hidden had been paramount. But Luke wasn't sure he agreed. He suspected they were afraid that if he _had_ known, he would have walked the same dark path as his father. And he also suspected they were still not being entirely truthful with him.

They had both insisted that the attempt on his life as a child had not been orchestrated by the Jedi as Vader believed, but had in fact been another manipulation by the Emperor to further enrage his father against the Jedi. To facilitate the Emperor's Purge of the Jedi order. That made sense, but Luke had come to the conclusion that they had all been guilty of manipulating his father to their own ends. That the Jedi Order's very selective education, not to mention their unrealistic ban on relationships, had in fact triggered the internal schism that had sent Anakin on his spiral to the Dark Side.

Kenobi informed him that his first Master, Qui Gon Jinn, had claimed Anakin Skywalker to be some sort of prophetic "Chosen One". A great Jedi who would bring 'balance' to the order. Well, as with all prophesies, the realisation was not quite what the devotees had expected. Vader had brought 'balance' all right, Kenobi had admitted wryly. 'Balance' in the form of annihilation.

As for not telling him about his sister… Luke was probably angrier about that than any of the other deceptions. Remembering how he had felt about Leia on Yavin Four, it appalled him to think what might have happened had she been more receptive to him at the time. What if they had slept together? What if they'd had the misfortune to create a child? The prospect well and truly sickened him, and he suspected that, if Han had not stayed, things might well have turned out differently.

Confronting Yoda about it had been completely unsatisfying, as he had simply taken refuge in the fact that nothing had happened. But Luke knew how he had felt at the time, and felt somehow violated because of it.

He watched Yoda follow the princess to the cockpit and decided not to follow.

….

Leia heard the distinctive footfalls of Luke's Jedi Master as he approached and wiped a hand across her face. Her nausea was fast reaching the point she knew would have her in the 'fresher, yet she still sought to ignore it as long as possible.

"Leia Organa," said the distinctive voice behind her.

Leia pointedly did not acknowledge him, simply continued to stare out through the cockpit canopy.

"Hide from your destiny you cannot."

 _Destiny?_ Leia thought angrily. _You arrogant little prat! How dare you try to give your petty machinations that level of respectability?_

"I'm not hiding," Leia told him calmly. "I just have different priorities." She turned and regarded him coolly, cutting him off as he started to speak. "Priorities that have little to do with Jedi agenda, I'm afraid."

"Seek to rescue your lover you do," Yoda said, closing the distance between them. "But only with Jedi training will you succeed."

Leia felt her expression darken despite her intention to draw on her political training and remain emotionally calm. "In _your_ opinion," she said.

"Save him on Hoth you did," the aged creature croaked, and Leia wanted to hit Luke for sharing his opinion of the reason behind Solo's recovery on Hoth.

"So on Tatooine will you try," Yoda continued. "But learn to control those skills you must, or fail on Tatooine you will."

Now he had her full attention. Leia frowned at him, replaying what he'd just said several times in her head. Assuming that she _had_ used the Force to somehow bring Han back from the brink of death after the cave-in on Hoth, Leia could accept that she might well want to try something similar on Tatooine. The small amount of information she could find on cryogenic freezing in the _Falcon's_ databanks had all pointed to Solo needing to be revived within ten minutes of 'de-freezing' before irreparable brain damage began.

That added to the urgency of her desire to get to Tatooine. If the Hutt took it into his head to release Solo from the carbonite, without full medcentre facilities, Leia doubted there would be anything they could do to save him.

Leia had tried to pinpoint exactly what she had done on Hoth but could only remember the desperate feeling of loss. _Everything I touch, everything I love_ _ **dies**_. And now here she was, face to face with a Jedi Master prepared to teach her the skills she needed to revive Han.

She was well aware that he had quite deliberately picked the one topic to pique her interest. And, with the mindset of a politician, Leia determined to use him to get what she wanted.

"Vader said I was using the Dark Side," she told him. Luke had doubtless told Yoda the same thing, but she knew that invoking Vader's name would carry more weight. "Can you still teach me or is it too late?"

"Dangerous to teach you it will be," Yoda admitted. "Divide your attention this child does. Hard for you to focus."

"That's just the nausea," Leia muttered dismissively. "As soon as that passes, I'll be fine."

"Change that you can, but feel the Force you must."

Leia sat up. "Are you saying you can teach me to make the nausea go away?" Yoda nodded, and she could see the hint of a smug smile in his expression. "Show me now!" she demanded.

Yoda walked out of the cockpit. "Come," he said.

…

Luke looked up as Yoda stepped into the ring corridor. He had busied himself filling a pack with food and drink from the galley and was waiting with it slung over his shoulder when the Jedi Master appeared. He suspected Yoda would want to take them some distance, and was concerned for the health of Leia's pregnancy on such a hike, but fell into step beside her as she followed the Jedi Master to the ramp.

"Do you know where we're going?" Leia asked him as she closed the hatch behind them.

"No," Luke said, keeping his eye on the quick moving Jedi as Leia moved around under the ramp and activated its closure. When it was secure she activated the ship lockdown then joined him without meeting his eyes, both of them aware that only she knew the codes that would get them back into the ship.

Then they set off after Yoda.

…

The first time they had to stop and wait while Leia threw up Luke felt a small level of concern but, as she'd vomited several times en route to Dagobah, he'd guessed it was part of the whole pregnancy deal. But waiting as she threw up for the fifth time inside an hour had him seriously concerned.

"She can't go on like this," he told Yoda quietly, and felt a level of irritation as the Jedi Master simply smiled and kept walking.

Frustrated, Luke waited until Leia's retching had ceased then sat on the large tree root beside her as she tried to catch her breath. He wanted to help her. Felt certain the techniques Vader had taught him to push away pain could be used to help lessen her nausea. But he felt like Yoda was testing him: seeing whether or not he would give in and use Vader's methods. But Yoda hadn't said anything like that, and Luke suspected it was his own misguided feeling of guilt that stopped him from using them.

"Would you let me help you?" he asked tentatively, not wanting to spark her ire.

Leia looked up at him from a gaunt face and sunken eyes and Luke's concern for her increased dramatically. She was seriously dehydrated and in obvious need of a medcentre.

"Let me help you, Leia," he begged, and was delighted when she simply nodded.

 _Too ill to argue_ , he thought grimly, then closed his eyes to concentrate. He needed to know what was going on inside her body; what was causing the nausea. And felt a real fear that his interference might compromise her pregnancy.

"Tell me what's causing it," he said, hoping she would be able to tell him more than just 'the pregnancy.'

"Hormones," Leia replied, struggling to find enough moisture in her mouth to stop her voice from croaking. "Hormones irritating the lining of my stomach." She retched briefly then added, "That's what the information the medic gave me said anyway."

 _Can't change the hormones_ , Luke told himself. _Mustn't change the hormones. So let's see if we can't change what her stomach thinks…_ _or what she thinks it's telling her…_

A moment later he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Did it work?" he asked.

Leia looked warily at him, started to retch and burped instead. Then a look of utter relief swept across her face and Luke knew he'd succeeded. He smiled and she gripped his arm.

"Luke…"

"Better?" he asked.

"It's not gone but it's…" Leia closed her eyes suddenly and covered her mouth with one hand. For a moment Luke thought her nausea had returned, then she roughly wiped away a tear that had escaped and run down her cheek. Throwing caution to the wind, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. And felt a moment of joy when she hugged him back.

"Thankyou," she murmured. "This is the first time I haven't felt so nauseous in _weeks_." Abruptly she shoved him away and declared, "I should hit you!"

" _Hit_ me?"

"You could have stopped this weeks ago, but you let me suffer!"

Luke shook his head and started to explain, "Vader showed me how after my hand-"

Leia cut him off with a hard look and said, "I don't want to know." Then got to her feet and headed off after Yoda.

Luke watched her go for a moment, savouring the sight of her lifting her skirts to follow the small Jedi though the boggy forest, seeing a spring in her step and an energy in her body language that hadn't been there a moment before. And, most of all, sensing a healing in the rift that had come between them.

She had _hugged_ him.

Smiling, Luke hurried after his sister.


	6. Chapter 6

FAMILY MATTERS

By Leela Starsky.

CHAPTER SIX

It was late in the afternoon when they reached their destination, a simple, but very beautiful waterfall. They could clearly see the point of origin where the artesian stream had broken through the rock wall, and now cascaded splendidly down the side of the hill to gather in a series of pools before feeding off into several smaller streams, which soon became indistinguishable from the surrounding bog. It was the first truly clean, fresh water flow Luke had seen on Dagobah and he regarded it in amazement, awed that he could feel its _cleanness_ through the Force. _Why hadn't Yoda brought him here before?_

He looked for the Jedi Master and found him watching the princess. Belatedly, Luke looked to see her reaction and was surprised to see a mixture of awe and fear on her face.

With a shock, and a certain level of envy, Luke realised that this place was a kind of opposite to the cave under the tree Yoda had made him go into. The cave that was full of the Dark Side. This place was so full up with the Light Side it was almost blinding to a Force sensitive. To someone like Leia, who was intent on keeping the blast shield down on her Force-sense, it would be like turning on a light in a dark room.

"What is it?" she asked as he stepped up beside her.

"It's the Force, Leia," Luke told her. "Take a deep breath and let yourself feel it."

He watched as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, felt a surge in her awareness, then she opened her eyes again and regarded the pool beside them with something akin to lust.

"I want to get in," she said in a low voice.

"In you must go," Yoda told her from his perch on a rock on the far side of the pool, and Luke watched with shock as Leia stripped to her underwear without hesitation, then walked into the pool.

…

 _Let yourself feel!_

Han's words; now Luke's, were what overcome her reticence and let Leia open herself to the flow around her. It was almost tangible, like she could reach out and touch it, and walking into the water was like plunging into the flow of the Force itself.

The water was cold, fresh from under the ground, but Leia barely noticed it. She could feel the Force so clearly it amazed her that she had never consciously felt it before. She could _feel_ the life teeming all around them and soon found herself able to distinguish Luke and Yoda from the clutter.

For a long time she wallowed in the flood. Like someone just given the gift of sight, Leia took the time to 'look around', and swiftly realised that visual references were highly inadequate for what she was feeling.

She felt like a god!

But like an inexperienced swimmer, the flood soon threatened to drown her, and she felt Yoda put a blanket around her senses, dampening the flow to a mere trickle. It was an agonising relief and Leia staggered out of the pool, shivering violently. Uncaring, she hurriedly pulled her dress on over her wet underclothes, then Han's jacket, then peered intently at the water while she struggled to pull her boots on.

A little way over, she could see that Luke had started a campfire, and she moved gratefully towards the warmth. He smiled at her and she felt him touch her mind. Leia recoiled instinctively. The only other touch she felt of that kind had been Vader's. On the Death Star.

Luke reached for her, apologising profusely, but Leia held up a hand to keep him at bay.

"It's all right," she told him. "I'm all right."

She moved in and hunkered down close to the fire, hugging her knees to her chest in an effort to warm herself up.

"Here," Luke said, and passed her a mug of hot soup.

Leia accepted it gratefully, doubly pleased when she realised it was the same soup she had enjoyed so much on the _Falcon_.

"Where's Yoda?" she asked, giving the area around them a cursory look while she sipped gingerly from the warm cup in her hands.

"He'll be back," Luke assured her.

Leia found herself feeling pleasantly unconcerned about the Jedi Master's whereabouts and concentrated on the warmth from the soup spreading through her body.

"How was the water?" Luke asked, and she could hear an element of teasing in his voice.

Leia smiled at him and admitted, " _Cold_." Then she added, "You were right, Luke. I should have listened to you."

Luke shook his head. "I can understand your fear of it, Leia. Especially after your experiences with Vader." He smiled reassuringly and said, "I'm just glad you can feel it at last." He looked around at the rapidly darkening forest. "It's like being able to see for the first time."

"It was stronger in the pool," Leia said. "Overwhelming." She took another sip of her soup then asked him, "Was it like that for you the first time you came here?"

"I've never been here before," Luke said.

Leia frowned, sensing something from him but as yet unable to read what it was. She smiled and suggested, "You should try it."

He smiled and nodded, "Maybe I will." Then looked at her and added, "Though it might be a little intense for me."

"Orgasmic," she teased.

Luke threw a pointed glance at her belly and smirked. "You'd know all about that," he said.

Leia felt herself flush with embarrassment and said defensively, "You're no virgin yourself."

"I'm not teasing you, Leia," Luke told her fondly. "I'm happy for you. For both of you. Really. I just wish it hadn't ended like…"

He fell silent and they stared at the fire, both unwilling to invoke the demons from Bespin.

"I'm going to get him back, Luke," Leia said quietly, and Luke nodded.

They lapsed into something of a comfortable silence and Leia allowed her mind to drift on thoughts of Han. For the first time since Bespin, she found she could think rationally about him, and could see her desperation to get to Tatooine for the knee-jerk reaction it was. Without the right medicines and equipment, they would kill Solo as surely as Jabba might. Yet that didn't lessen her fears that the Hutt might still de-freeze him before they got there. And thinking about Han at the mercy of Jabba the Hutt prompted a resurgence of the panic and urgency she had been feeling since Bespin, but Leia closed her eyes and allowed it to pass. She could only do her best, and she was doing just that by being here: by learning what she could in the quickest time possible. Then she would go back to the Rebel Fleet, get the medical supplies they'd need, and go to Tatooine _prepared_.

Leia wished Chewbacca was with her and ached to think what horrors he might be facing.

Luke offered to refill her cup and she smiled and held it out to him.

"So," he said, "what changed? Between you and Han, I mean."

"I missed my transport off Hoth," Leia told him. "So Han got me out." She sighed heavily. "Then the hyperdrive failed. We would have been caught over Hoth but Han came up with the brilliant idea of hiding in the asteroid field."

Luke regarded her with shock and said, "Tell me you're joking?"

Leia shook her head and said seriously, "Oh no. It was terrifying."

Luke stared into his cup and muttered, "Maybe he _is_ insane…"

"No," Leia said. "More like dangerously brilliant. He then hitched a hyperspace mini-hop on the back of one of the Star Destroyers and drifted us off with the rest off the garbage when they dumped it just before going hyper." Luke shook his head, awed, and Leia smiled. "Then we spent the next four weeks limping to Bespin at sublight."

Luke grinned broadly and Leia felt herself blushing again. "I learned Shri Wook on the way," she said in a vain attempt to distract him from thinking about the other things that she had obviously learned on the way to Bespin.

"Good for you," he said, and Leia could tell he was genuinely pleased for her. "I was hoping you two would sort things out on that trip to Ord Mantell. But when you came back and things were _worse_ …" Luke shook his head then chuckled. "You have no idea how many bets were lost on that trip!"

Leia sniffed with affront and said unsympathetically, "Serves you all right!"

"Be no denying it this time, though," he said, looking at her seriously.

"I have no intention of denying it," Leia agreed.

"Are you happy about it?" Luke asked, and Leia sensed he was seizing on the chance to find out her feelings about the pregnancy. "Happy about being pregnant?" he clarified.

"It wasn't planned," she admitted. "And Han was supposedly _sterile_ …" She found herself staring into her soup, once again wondering how Han would feel about the child they'd somehow created, and muttered, "I don't know how it happened."

"The Force," the Jedi Master croaked ominously out of the darkness.

Luke and Leia looked in the direction the voice had come from, surprised, and a moment later he stepped into the firelight.

"Forges all our destinies it does," he continued.

"Actually, I think this had more to do with contraception failure myself," Leia muttered under her breath, and saw Luke hide a smirk behind his hand.

Yoda seemed to study her gravely, his eyes glimmering, reflecting the firelight. "Believe in the Force you do, Leia Organa," he told her gently. "Yet believe in it _in_ yourself you do not."

 _He's right_ , Leia thought, and felt compelled to nod. She did believe in the Force, and not just because she had been brought up to believe in it. She had seen Luke use it far too often to think that it was just a myth. But her fear of finding such a power within herself was a real one. It would be so easy to deal with problems by simply _forcing_ sentients to do things the way _she_ wanted. The way she knew was right. _Forcing_ them to be sensible and good. Not to mention meting out justice on those she thought deserved it.

It was an aspect of Force use that Leia instinctively knew to be Dark but, knowing her own nature, was afraid she would find an irresistible temptation. Especially in light of the revelation that Vader was her biological father. Yet her desire to save Han was beginning to make the risk one worth taking. That and the knowledge that, despite her mother's attempts to block her abilities, she was beginning to use the Force anyway.

 _Using it to_ _ **coerce**_ _your lover_ , her conscience reminded her bitterly.

"Tell me about Force Bonding," she asked Yoda suddenly.

The small Jedi Master seemed to consider her request for a long moment before responding, "Felt this you have."

Leia nodded, then added, "Vader told me it was a punishable offence by Jedi law."

"Powerful coercion it is," Yoda agreed. "In the hands of the unscrupulous."

"But I didn't even know I was doing it," Leia protested calmly, meeting the small Jedi Master's gaze.

"Saw into your lover's heart you did. And he into yours. Addictive this is. Especially for non-Jedi."

"It didn't-" _…happen every time_. Leia paused, unwilling to go into detail, but the Jedi Master seemed to understand.

"Mmm," he agreed, sounding unsurprised, and told her matter-of-factly, "Mutual orgasm."

Leia, aware that Luke was sitting beside her taking everything in, blushed profusely and picked at the dirt under her fingernails.

"Difficult to achieve this is," Yoda continued. "Especially for humans." He leaned towards her and surmised, "Worried that you coerced your lover you are."

Leia chewed the inside of her lip as she met his gaze once more, then nodded.

"Force Bond first time did you?" Yoda asked, and Leia shook her head. "Then coerce him you did not."

"Is that…" Leia thought for a moment, trying to find the right words, then asked, "Could that be what created the child?"

Yoda shook his head without hesitation. "No," he said. "More likely the child it was who prompted the Force Bonding."

Leia was astounded. " _Really_?"

"Strong with the Force she is," Yoda reminded her.

"But…" _…she would have only_ _ **just**_ _been conceived_ , Leia thought.

"Very strong," he insisted.

Leia frowned, finding it difficult to entertain the thought that she could be carrying such a powerful child. _Or maybe the Force Bonding was simply something_ _ **I**_ _did_ , she thought. _Or even Han._ His mother had been a Jedi after all.

"Sleep now," Yoda said. "Work hard in the morning you must."

He moved out of the firelight and disappeared into the darkness, leaving them alone once more, yet Leia got the distinct impression he would not be far away.

Beside her, Luke sighed heavily then got to his feet and pulled a large ground-mat from the pack he had brought. Looking at him, Leia sensed he was irritated about something and asked, "What's wrong?"

Luke finished arranging the ground-mat then finally looked at her and said, "Force Bonding?" The exasperation in his voice was unmistakable. "I was here for nearly _four_ weeks and nobody told _me_ about Force Bonding!"

"Well…" _It was hardly something the Jedi Master thought you would need in the immediate future_ , Leia thought, but she said, "Four weeks isn't a very long time, Luke." She could hear the conciliatory tone in her voice and, not wanting to sound condescending, tried to sound neutral as she added, "As I understand, it took Jedi years to train."

Luke sighed heavily. "I know," he admitted. "It's just… I feel like I learned more in my two weeks with Vader than I did here."

"I wouldn't trust his methods," Leia opined darkly.

"He taught me healing techniques!" Luke said defensively. "Healing techniques that cured _your_ nausea! He also taught me how to conceal myself to avoid the need for fighting. All Yoda and Ben taught me was how to fight and defend myself." He paused then clarified, "How to fight Darth Vader and win." He flopped down onto the ground-mat and added sourly, "And I lost."

Leia allowed Luke his petulant outburst then told him pointedly, "Vader only told me about Force Bonding so he could _gloat_ , Luke." Luke frowned at her, not understanding, and Leia felt compelled to explain.

"Not only did Vader have his men record every minute Han and I spent together on Bespin, he _felt_ us. Then gloated about it to me while he was torturing Han."

" _Felt_ you?" Leia watched as understanding swept over Luke and he grimaced, hanging his head in his hands. "Leia, I have no idea how to apologise for something like that." Leia opened her mouth to tell him it was not something he needed to apologise for, but he cut her off. "And don't tell me it wasn't _my_ fault, 'cause it was! Vader wanted _me_ and he knew he could use you and Han to get to me!" He wiped his hands over his face and added, "I'm _so_ sorry."

"Me too," Leia agreed softly. "Maybe we should get some sleep?" she suggested, trying to change the subject. "Are there predators we need to keep watch for?"

Luke shook his head. "Nothing I won't sense," he told her.

…..

Lying beside Leia, both of them wrapped in a blanket, Luke couldn't help feeling somewhat surprised at how quickly she had fallen asleep. From the many times they had been forced to share sleeping facilities, Luke had known the Princess of Alderaan to be the sort to stew for at least an hour before falling asleep. Solo had complained about it often because she would usually disturb their attempts to sleep with either her restlessness or random thought processes that she inevitably deemed necessary to share. To see her fall asleep within moments of putting her head down was both a comfort and a concern. Comfort because, with the amount going through her head at present, Luke would have expected her not to sleep at all, and concern because it was so unlike her.

He surmised the long walk from the _Falcon_ must have exhausted her and wished it'd had the same effect on him. Instead he found himself stewing in the same way she normally would; worries and 'could have beens' whirling around mercilessly in his head. _Mind-fucking_ , as Solo so eloquently called it.

Sighing deeply, Luke gave in and used the Force to quiet his mind. It was something he had become very adept at doing while training with Yoda. Yoda, who would only ever answer questions when he deemed Luke _ready_ for the answers. Which, of course, was nowhere near as often as Luke would have liked.

As he drifted off to sleep, Luke found himself comparing his father's teaching style with that of Yoda, and decided sleepily that he preferred his father's. At least he answered questions…

…

Leia woke, from what had been a surprisingly restful sleep, just as the sky was lightening. Luke had not slept well, and even now looked worried, and Leia suspected it was his restlessness that had disturbed her.

 _Bad dreams_. After all that had happened to them recently, it was to be expected.

She took an experimental deep breath, fully expecting the oh-so-familiar wave of nausea. And while she could sense it vaguely, it was nothing like it had been. Relieved, and feeling _almost_ normal, Leia gazed dreamily up at the mist-shrouded tree limbs overhead.

Nearby, a clean-limbed spider had spun a large web, and every strand of the intricate design was bejewelled with beads of moisture. The artist was sitting in the middle of its spectacular creation; all shiny black with some lighter spots on its back. Spiders were not something Leia was terribly fond of, and she was intrigued at her own lack of alarm at the nearness of the creature as well as the fact that it seemed to be watching her.

Testing her theory, expecting it to be proven an arrogant assumption, Leia lifted one hand towards the spider while still keeping a safe distance. The spider shifted fractionally and raised one leg towards her. Not quite threatening her; just threatening to threaten her. Leia smiled.

She lowered her hand and experimentally reached out with the Force to the creature; was mightily surprised when she realised she could discern the spider's distinct presence. She attempted to delve deeper and got the distinct impression that the spider was concerned about her proximity.

Fascinated, Leia considered testing her fledgling Force-sense even further but, now that she was fully awake, the need to empty her bladder had become an urgent demand. She carefully slipped out from under the blanket without disturbing Luke. After she'd finished, Leia replaced the pad she had made out of Solo's old sheets in her underwear and went to wash the soiled one in the waterfall. Her bleeding seemed to have lessened during the night, which was encouraging.

The water was cold but, as she watched it rushing over her hands, Leia was gripped by the same desire that had gripped her the day before. The desire to fling her whole body into the water. She could feel the thrumming power within the pool beckoning to her, and looked back at Luke. He was still sound asleep. And she couldn't see Yoda anywhere. Making up her mind, Leia unbound her hair, stripped naked, then spent a moment on the edge of the pool staring into the water. Its pull was inexorable. Like tantalising a blind man with sight.

Leia moved forward a fraction, flinching a little as the icy water washed over her toes. _I'm insane_ , she thought, but walked further into the water nevertheless. She could feel awareness of the Force flooding through her and closed her eyes, savouring the sensation for a moment before sliding into the water and swimming towards the deepest section of the pool. Now out of her depth, Leia hung in the water briefly then fully submerged. Under the water the thunder of the waterfall itself was somewhat softer, and the effervescence it churned into the water swirled and eddied around her, caressing her skin, capturing her hair. Leia expelled all the air from her lungs to keep herself under water, thoroughly enjoying the sensation. It was like submerging herself in the force of life itself. She could feel it all around her and within her. So healing, so much _life_!

She broke the surface to fulfil her body's need for oxygen, then submerged once more. There was a burning brightness to the Force flowing through her that the chill water seemed to soothe. It left her with a feeling that, outside the pool, she could very well ignite.

Remembering the overwhelming nature of her experience the day before, Leia decided it would be wise to temper her time in the pool a little and surfaced once more. She swam towards an offshoot of the waterfall proper, a sloping rock-face with a small torrent of water rushing across its surface, and climbed carefully onto the large smooth stones at its base. Then she lay with her back against the rock-face while the water cascaded around her, pummelling her skin in a delicious massage.

Closing her eyes, Leia let the Force take her where it would; expecting it to carry her along with the flow of the water, and follow it out across the planet. And was vaguely disappointed when it seemed to turn in on her, giving her an awareness of her body like she'd never had before. She could feel the blood coursing through her veins, rushing with every pump of her heart to every part of her body. That was when she became aware of the other heartbeat.

Leia's eyes flew open, but she stared unseeing at the clouded sky, while her hands moved to press against her belly, seeking physical evidence of the small presence she could sense growing there. But there was only a Force enhanced awareness of her swollen uterus and the independent heartbeat within it.

She sought out that heartbeat and found it accompanied by a strong desire to live. A sentience running on instinct. But so _clean_ , so _innocent_ …

 _My daughter_.

Leia felt an overwhelming love for her child bloom in her breast, swiftly followed by an aching need to protect her. Then came the softest touch through the Force, like tiny mental fingers wrapping around one of her own, and Leia burst into tears.

She sat up, hugging herself and wept helplessly as the full consequence of motherhood was revealed to her. __The knowledge that she would place the health and safety of her child above all else, and the _unimaginable_ devastation that would follow her loss.

 _What have I done?_

Leia needed time alone to absorb and rearrange her new feelings. To try and come to terms with the enormity of the task she'd given herself. Not only did she have to give birth to this child but, Leia realised, she would spend the rest of her life _worrying_ about her.

She plunged back into the main pool with the intention of getting out, her mind in turmoil. But the nature of the pool gripped her, plunging her deep into the swell of the Force. Leia tried to fight it but it overwhelmed her, pulling her helplessly into its currents and expanding her consciousness to unbearable levels.

After what seemed an age, she felt another presence closing on her, blinding in its brightness in the Force, and was dimly aware of being dragged from the pool. Then came the blessed relief as the maelstrom in her head quietened to a manageable level. Suddenly cold, Leia clutched at the blanket that was wrapped around her and looked up to find Luke's very worried looking face peering down at her. Very worried and very _wet_. In fact, he was dripping on her.

Leia opened her mouth to thank him, but her teeth started chattering so she shut it again.

"What were you thinking?" Luke chided her.

She let him guide her back to the ground-mat they had slept on the night before then sat, shivering, while he hurriedly set about making a new fire. He was shivering too and had obviously jumped into the pool fully clothed.

"Sorry," Leia murmured contritely.

Luke paused and looked at her, his irritation evident on his face. "What were you thinking?" he asked again, then turned back to getting the fire started.

Leia pulled the blanket tighter and told him softly, "I felt her, Luke."

Again Luke paused to look at her, but this time his expression softened. Leia sensed he was reaching out to see if he could feel her daughter through the Force as well. Guessed by the smile that suddenly broke across his face that he had succeeded.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Leia breathed.

"She's…" Luke seemed to have trouble finding the right words and finally settled for, "she's amazing."

"I can't feel her here," Leia added, looking back at the waterfall. "Just in the water…"

"Don't you even _think_ about jumping back in there!" Luke warned. He succeeded in getting the fire going then got to his feet. "Get dressed. I'll be back in a minute." He headed off into the mist-shrouded forest and disappeared behind a tree.

Leia dressed hurriedly, savouring the warmth and comforting scent of Han's jacket as she pulled it on over her clothes. Pausing to enjoy the comfort it gave her, Leia wondered if there would be some way for Han to sense their daughter the way she had. She looked up as Luke returned and asked him whether he thought it might be possible.

Luke shook his head and said regretfully, "I don't think so. It's a Force thing…" He pulled the flask of soup from his pack, "Have you thought about a name for her yet?"

Leia shook her head. "She just wasn't real to me," she murmured. "'Til now…"

Luke smiled then looked sideways suddenly. Yoda was sitting on a nearby tree root, watching them.

"Morning, Master," Luke said, and handed Leia a cup of soup. "Soup?" he offered the Jedi Master.

Yoda grunted acquiescence and joined them by the fire.

…..

They breakfasted pleasantly together then Yoda led them on another trek, which took most of the day, all the while instructing, not just Leia but Luke as well. Each time they paused to rest, Leia bombarded the Jedi Master with questions and Luke watched her frustration grow as his answers became steadily less satisfying. Nevertheless, Luke felt deeply comforted by her presence; felt a _rightness_ in the Force that she was here. This is the way it should have been: brother and sister training together.

Once again he found himself haunted by what might have happened had he taken Solo's advice just after the battle of Yavin and slept with the Alderaanian Princess. He couldn't help feeling ashamed of his desires at the time despite their innocence, and had to squash an accusatory spear of anger that lanced out towards the Jedi Master. Despite the attempt to hide his anger, Luke suspected that Yoda had sensed it anyway.

Leia was spending any breaks they had trying to sense her baby, which Yoda encouraged as an exercise to help her open herself to the Force without the aide of the waterfall. But even that she had been unable to achieve. Yoda had told her that, until she allowed the outside forces _in_ , she could not affect them.

In Luke's opinion, the shields Leia had built around her emotions were of Super Star Destroyer quality, but the controls were as dodgy as anything on the _Millennium Falcon_. Amused at his own analogy, Luke wondered if that was how Han had known how to break through them?

It was raining steadily by the time they stopped for the evening, and they sought as much shelter as they could in the giant buttress-like roots of a tree. As they settled down to sleep, Luke put his arm around his sister and, as she relaxed, showed her what she had been trying to feel all day. The tiny life within her. Leia hugged him gratefully and fell asleep entwined with the gentle presence of her daughter through the Force.

Luke took a moment to study her, comparing her profile to the memories he now had of their mother.

 _So alike…_

He kissed her softly on the forehead and let himself drift off to sleep.

….

He found himself in a large elegant hallway and, aware that he was dreaming, decided he was in a palace of some sort. Looking around, Luke noticed a young man approaching and was abruptly aware that he himself was much older than his current years. Was he dreaming about the future?

The young man approaching was on the small side for an adult human, but lean and hard in an athletic sort of way. His hair was dark, unkempt and too long, forcing him to push it out of his eyes at regular intervals. But the blue eyes that peered through the jagged, self-cut fringe, were brightly intelligent and the face vaguely familiar.

But what shone most brightly, and riveted Luke Skywalker's attention on him, was his Force-sense. The young man all but _glowed_ with a level of power Luke had not felt since Darth Vader or the Emperor.

Skywalker held out his hand and the young man gripped his forearm in greeting.

"Master Skywalker."

Luke estimated the young man's age at about 18 and for an instant wondered if this was how he had looked to Ben Kenobi at the same age. All brash and eager, and glowing with the Force. And felt a moment of understanding at the thrill it must have given the old Jedi. The sense of _future_. Of purpose.

But Ben had always known about Luke; this young man had seemingly come out of nowhere. No, Luke decided; what he was feeling was probably closer to what Vader had felt.

"Durc Organa," the young man said, introducing himself. "I think you knew my mother?"

Luke regarded the young man with shocked surprise. "Organa? You're Leia's son?"

The young man nodded and there was an almost sinister glimmer in his eyes as he added, "And yours, _uncle_."

The familiarity of the young man's features made sudden and horrible sense as the truth of his words slammed into Luke. He and _Leia_ –

Luke jerked into wakefulness feeling panicked and ill. Had he just seen his son? The son he might have had from a path where he'd unknowingly slept with his sister? He wiped a hand across his face, struggling to banish the non-existent phantoms of his dream, and felt Leia stir beside him.

"Luke?" she murmured.

"It's all right," he told her hastily. "Go back to sleep."

He felt her unconscious attempt to touch his mind, to seek the truth directly, and blocked her.

"It was a bad dream," he admitted carefully. "Go back to sleep."

Bad dreams were something Leia knew intimately. She accepted his explanation without question and settled back into sleep. Luke, on the other hand, was afraid to sleep lest his subconscious take him back to a place he did _not_ want to go to. So he gazed out at the darkness, his mind in turmoil. But the sound of the rain and the breathing of the princess were soothing, and he soon found himself dreaming again.

But this time he could see _nothing_. Nor could he breathe. Gripped by a terror like he'd never felt, Luke wanted to scream but he couldn't move. His body in agony, yet unable to do anything about it, Luke thought he would go mad, and wondered why he wasn't dead from his inability to breathe. Instinctively he sought out the one presence he truly cared about, but couldn't feel the Force at all. He tried to calm himself, tried to focus, but a mindless panic took over.

 _Leia!_ he screamed helplessly in his head. _Leia!_

"Luke?"

Luke gasped for air as he woke and heard himself shriek, "Leia!" Still trying to get a grip on reality, he dimly became aware that Leia was shaking him.

"Luke, wake up. It's just a dream."

The need to flee still gripped him and he lurched out into the rain, breathing with panic-stricken gasps. Again he heard the echo of a cry in his head, "Leia!" and this time he recognised the voice.

 _Han_.

Horrified understanding almost paralysed Luke. Han was _aware_. Frozen in carbonite, but still somehow aware.

Afraid that Leia would sense what he had just felt through the Force, Luke slammed his mental shields into place and sought to calm his breathing, which had degenerated into traumatised sobs. He turned his face into the rain, concealing his tears and seeking to wash the sudden and unwelcome knowledge from his mind. But, of course, it remained.

This was what Vader had planned to do to him. To lock him in a living hell.

"Luke?"

Luke looked back at his sister, could feel her concern, and managed a weak smile, hoping it looked reassuring. This was something Leia must never know.

He walked back to her and sat on the lowest edge of the tree root they'd been sheltering against, uncaring of the rain.

"Bad dream?" she asked, hunkering deeper into the small dry space they'd been sharing a moment ago.

Luke nodded. He leaned his elbows on his knees and stared unseeing at the hands that hung loosely between his legs, only dimly aware of the water trickling off his hair and nose.

It was like the vision he'd had before. Han in pain. A vision that had every instinct within his body urging him to rush to his friend's rescue. _Just like before…_ He had ignored the advice of the Jedi Master teaching him to go and rescue his friend. A choice that had resulted in dire consequences for all of them. Did he dare repeat that mistake? Did he dare _not_? How could he leave Han in that hell?

He turned his right hand palm up, watched the water gather in it and run off, clenched it into a fist then opened it again. The hand was surprisingly sensitive, despite being artificial. A legacy of his father.

He looked at Leia and found her watching him carefully. There were no demands for explanations from her, yet Luke knew that if she'd had any inkling of what he'd just felt, she would be doing an immediate bolt for the _Falcon_. Which should he follow? Instinct or reason? Reason told him Leia needed Yoda's instruction, but could Han survive the sort of torment he'd glimpsed?

"I'm wet now," he told Leia. "I'll stay out here."

The princess nodded and closed her eyes, settling back to sleep.

Luke stared out at the rain.

…..

Leia glared at the pebble sitting on the ground only a metre away, willing it to move. Although able to feel the power that was part of her genetic heritage, she was still unable to consciously manipulate it. Used to seeing results almost as soon as she put her mind to a task, Leia's frustration with her lack of progress in this area manifest as a short temper and an acid tongue.

They had been on Dagobah almost four days now and her need to rescue Han was becoming an unrelenting throb at the back of her brain. Much to her relief, they had returned to the _Falcon_ after their hike to the waterfall, and were now using the open area around it as a training ground. But, apart from a few minor successes __such as being able to sense the child steadily growing inside her, Leia felt like she was going nowhere.

She had only moved the pebble once so far, when she had walked over and kicked it in a fit of pique. The Jedi Master had sighed and Luke had seemed vaguely amused. Well Leia wasn't amused. Not at all.

"You're trying too hard," Luke told her as she growled and hung her head in her hands, giving up once more. "Relax and let it flow."

"Relax?" Leia repeated through gritted teeth. _That's about as achievable as me moving this rock_ , she thought sarcastically.

"Which is why you can't move the rock," Luke replied wryly.

"I don't _want_ to move the rock," Leia snapped tersely. "I want to go find Han! This is a waste of time-"

"You can do this, Leia."

" _Obviously_!" she said, waving accusingly at the rock.

"You just have to feel-"

"I _can_ feel the Force!" she protested. "I can feel you, I can feel Yoda, I can feel my baby, I can even feel the rock. I just can't _move_ the rock!"

Luke sighed heavily and Leia echoed him.

"You can reach out and touch the rock but you're keeping it all at arm's length," Luke tried to explain. "It has to be internalised, Leia. You have to _feel_ it." He shrugged and finished simply, "You're blocking."

"It's what I was programmed to do," Leia replied quietly, taking refuge behind the block they'd concluded her mother had placed on her abilities as an infant.

"So turn the program off," Luke told her gently.

 _Let yourself feel_. The same thing Han had told her. Let her guard down; leave herself emotionally vulnerable. She had been getting used to lowering the shields she had built around her psyche to feel her daughter; could it really hurt that much to lower them a little further?

What had Vader told her to do to stop the Emperor from sensing her? To feel nothing? Then surely doing the opposite would have the desired effect?

Leia took a deep breath and, with her exhalation, tried to let go. Focussed briefly on her daughter and felt an answering touch. She tried to open herself further and, to some extent, felt her consciousness expand. Closing her eyes, Leia pictured the rock in her mind, felt its shape, weight and texture. Felt the waves of energy focus through her mind to lift the rock.

She knew she was succeeding by the surge of excitement that washed over her from both Yoda and Luke, and opened her eyes.

The rock was teetering, just off the ground. _I can do better_ , Leia thought, and attempted to find the woman she had been just before Bespin. Open, happy… Memories of Han washed over her and Leia smiled and let them flow. Knew without looking that the rock was rising steadily.

Then it hit her. A wave of such desperation, such _agony_.

 _Leia!_

" _Han!_ "Sheresponded, vocally and mentally, and the Jedi Master ducked as the rock shot over his head and slammed into the tree several metres behind him.

The psychic scream vanished as quickly as it had come. Bereft and deeply traumatised, Leia surged to her feet.

"I felt Han!" she exclaimed.

Luke, who was trying to recover from the psychic backwash, staggered to his feet to calm her, but Leia was inconsolable.

"I felt Han!" she said, wringing her hands in panic-stricken anguish. "I felt Han! I felt Han!" Her eyes met Luke's with a cataclysm of understanding and, without another word she fled towards the _Falcon_.

Luke closed his eyes briefly as Leia raced up the ramp then turned and looked at Yoda. The Jedi Master's lips were pursed in unexpressed disapproval. Luke had heard all the admonishments before, but he knew nothing would stop Leia from leaving now. A fact solidified by the sounds of the Falcon's engines warming.

"We'll be back, Master," Luke said apologetically. "I promise." It was the exact same promise he had made before leaving Dagobah last time, and Luke hoped the decision would not end as disastrously this time. He wished Yoda would say something and, resigned, picked up the jacket he'd left lying nearby. But what the Jedi Master said when he finally did speak was the last thing Luke had expected.

"With you I will come," Yoda said, hobbling towards the _Falcon's_ ramp.

"Master?"

"Time I came out of hiding it is."


	7. Chapter 7

FAMILY MATTERS

By Leela Starsky.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Wedge Antilles had been in Cloud City for several days now, sifting through the turmoil of the recently occupied city. Knowing that it would be too risky to fly his X-wing in, he had bought a passage to Bespin on a commercial transport from Duro. The journey had taken almost a week, but Antilles knew that the time was worth it for the security it ensured for the Rebellion. His subtle investigations in Cloud City had finally brought him to a man called Lobot, who had apparently been an aide to the administrator in charge of the city before its sudden and swift takeover by the Empire. Lobot had agreed to meet him in a nondescript tavern on one of the lower levels of the city as the new and unwelcome Imperial presence was almost non-existent there.

Antilles had been impressed by the city, but its inner levels were like industrial or lower socio-economic areas anywhere; darker, dirtier, and its inhabitants reflected this. The reason for the city's recent Imperial occupation was a mystery too. One that none of the inhabitants he'd spoken to so far could enlighten him on. Cloud City had remained beneath the Empire's notice for _years_ , it seemed, and he couldn't help wondering if Solo and the princess had somehow been the catalyst. He hoped not, but suspected their arrival here to be too much of a coincidence to be otherwise. Why they'd come here, and where they'd gone, Antilles hoped Lobot would be able to tell him.

He wasn't sure what he'd expected Lobot to look like, but he hadn't expected the hooded man he found sitting in the part of the tavern they'd agreed upon. Then he glimpsed the cyborg attachments on the man's head and understood the need for the cloak. Lobot had clearly been an Imperial slave at one time.

Antilles placed the drinks he had bought on the table and sat opposite. Lobot accepted the drink without a word, and Antilles caught a glimpse of intense blue eyes.

"What can you tell me?" he asked in a low voice.

The hooded man slid a datachip across the table towards him and Antilles smoothly pocketed it.

"It's all on there," Lobot said, then met Antilles gaze with a piercing glance and added, " _All_ of it."

"Imperial surveillance," Wedge said, and got a small nod. So now he had the unedited version of what Chambers had bought on Negavan. "Why did they come here?" he asked.

"Vader set a trap," he answered.

" _Vader_?" Antilles hissed, then wondered why he was surprised. Trouble followed Solo and the princess like a faithful pilgrim and, after the run-in they'd had recently with the bounty hunter on Ord Mantell, Wedge realised he'd assumed this to be something similar despite the obvious Imperial connections. More of Solo's past catching up with him. He sighed at his own arrogant prejudice.

"Vader himself orchestrated everything," the man offered tightly. "Wanted the one called Skywalker."

 _Luke_?! Wedge held his breath momentarily, then he said darkly, "Skywalker was _here_?" What the hell had he been up to? Why hadn't he rejoined the fleet?

Lobot nodded. "He was the reason Vader set the trap." He took a long draught from his glass and muttered, "It's all on the chip. The smuggler came looking for help because his ship had no hyperdrive."

Antilles hid his astonishment by taking a swig of the contents of his glass. The _Falcon_ had limped all the way to Bespin from Hoth? No, that couldn't be right… At sublight speeds that would have taken them _years_. The hyperdrive must have blown somewhere en route. No wonder they'd been missing so long!

"Were they followed?" he asked, then dismissed the question with a shake of his head. "Of course they were," he muttered apologetically. "Stupid question."

That earned him a bit of a smile from under the hood and he flashed one back.

"Vader was here several weeks before the smuggler," Lobot said flatly. "Skywalker arrived the day after."

Antilles frowned and shook his head, still unable to piece together what had happened. Had Luke stayed with the _Falcon_ the whole way to Bespin? In which case, why hadn't he arrived _with_ them instead of the next day? And, if he hadn't stayed with them, then what had prompted him to come to Bespin? And what game was Vader playing? Why the hell would he want _Luke_?

"Vader…" he murmured, then asked the question that worried him the most, "Are they prisoners?"

Lobot shook his head. "The ones who survived escaped in the smuggler's ship."

Antilles winced, afraid to ask who hadn't survived. "The _Falcon_?"

Lobot nodded, then added, "The smuggler was given to the bounty hunter who led the Imperials here."

Antilles heart sank. So bounty hunters _had_ been involved. And Solo had been packed off with one. Then who hadn't survived?

"The princess?" he asked.

"The princess and the Wookiee escaped. Skywalker was killed."

Wedge didn't bother to hide his shock and dismay, and numbly forced the last of his drink down his throat. Unable to come to terms with the fact that Luke had been killed, he ejected it to deal with at a later date.

Realising that he'd probably stayed too long and was unnecessarily increasing their risk of discovery, he stood up to leave, but was stilled by a sudden flickering of lights from within the hood. Then he remembered the man's cybernetic enhancement and dismissed it, but was stopped from leaving by a firm hand on his arm. He looked back at the man and found the blue eyes regarding him intently.

"A Corellian YT-1300 just docked in the southwest sector," Lobot said, and Antilles sat down again. He didn't want to let himself hope, told himself there were plenty of YT-1300s still freighting and that it probably wasn't the _Millennium Falcon_ , but couldn't stop himself from feeling excited.

"I asked to be notified every time one landed," Lobot explained. "In case it might be Calrissian."

"Let's go check it out then," Antilles said.

…

The _Millennium Falcon_ arrived at Cloud City on Bespin under the false registration of _Sunfighter Franchise_. It was a name Solo had used on various smuggling runs for the Rebellion, one Leia knew that worked. She just hoped it wouldn't attract attention.

Leia had planned to return to the Rebel Alliance for the equipment and medications needed to safely revive Solo but, with her newfound knowledge of what Solo was suffering, no longer felt she could afford the time it would take to contact an agent and find the Alliance. Plus there would be all the extra complications of trying to explain exactly what had happened to Solo, not to mention the horror her rushing off to rescue him would be met with. So Leia had come to the decision to go back to the source of the problem.

 _Bespin_.

Having Yoda come along had been an unexpected complication as far as Leia was concerned. But, so far, the Jedi Master had seemed happy not to interfere, and had in fact insisted on remaining aboard the _Falcon_ when they landed, which suited Leia perfectly.

They landed without incident and, looking like any other freighter crew, entered the city unchallenged by the stormtroopers overseeing their arrival. The Imperial presence was no great surprise, nor was the dramatically reduced population. But none of that concerned Leia. She was only interested in getting the information and medication they required and getting out.

She sensed Luke's unease at returning to a place that had such life-changing and unpleasant memories attached to it. Felt somewhat that way herself. But the practicalities of what she was trying to achieve made it easy for her to dismiss.

What was harder to dismiss was how tired and ill she was feeling. The nausea had returned with a vengeance, and nothing she or Luke did seemed to help. Luke had come to the conclusion that it was because her nausea was now being caused by stress rather than just hormones, and Leia suspected he was probably right. But that didn't make it any easier to live with. Luke had suggested she get a medical check-up while they were here, but Leia had argued that spending a minute longer than they had to in the city was just too risky.

They wound their way through the various levels of the city until they found the medcentre that serviced all of the city's administrative personnel. Leia knew this would include the medics who serviced the prison section and set about looking for his face among the many listed on the electronic information board by the door.

Leia identified the one she was looking for just as a protocol droid approached them and asked in a softly modulated voice if it could assist them.

"Yes," she told it matter of factly. "We're looking for this medic," she said pointing at the small photo ID __on the list. "I saw him a couple of weeks ago and he wanted me back for a check up. Said I should see him personally as he knows my case."

"And your name?" the droid asked pleasantly.

"Frozen Corellian," Leia said stiffly.

The droid seemed to pause for a moment, reconsider, then headed down the corridor containing the consulting rooms. Leia couldn't help wondering if the medic would have them arrested, and felt herself tense as the droid returned a moment later and directed them to one of the consulting rooms.

She could feel the fear from the medic who was waiting in the room for them, instinctively started to block the emotions she was receiving through the Force then reconsidered and consciously opened herself to it, seeing the value and truth-telling advantages to such empathy.

"It _is_ you," the man said softly.

Leia got straight to the point. "I need to know what you gave him and how to decarbonise him safely," she said.

"I can tell you exactly what I gave him, but decarbonising?" the medic shook his head and told her honestly, "I have no idea. As far as I know, no human has ever been carbon-frozen before."

"Then you'll just have to give me your best guess," Leia said icily.

…..

Looking at the battered freighter sitting on the docking arm, Antilles knew without question that it was the _Millennium Falcon_. According to Lobot it had been registered in the landing records as the _Sunfighter Franchise_ , but Antilles simply shook his head and said quietly, "That's the _Falcon_."

Unwilling to compromise his position any further, and feeling sure that Calrissian would contact him if he had returned, Lobot left Antilles to wait for the crew's return by himself.

The Rogue Squadron pilot settled down among the empty crates near the entrance into the city, and about an hour later two figures approached the ship. Wedge recognised Luke and the princess immediately and felt an overwhelming relief at finding his friend alive.

"Luke!" he exclaimed, and stepped out from among the crates.

Luke and the princess both looked alarmed and wary, but Luke smiled as he recognised his friend.

"Wedge," he said, acknowledging Antilles as he approached, then asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you!" Antilles told him. He glanced awkwardly at the princess and wondered if he could tell her about the incriminating datachip of her and Solo that had allowed him to track them to Bespin.

She smiled thinly at him and said, "Lieutenant."

Wedge ran a hand through his hair and uncomfortably corrected her, "Actually it's Commander." He looked apologetically at Luke and explained, "I got promoted when you didn't show."

Luke smiled wryly but was sincere as he said, "Congratulations."

"Where the hell have you been?" Antilles wanted to know. "We thought you'd been killed!"

"It's a long story," Luke replied evasively.

"I've been looking for you for weeks!" he complained without thinking, then made a conscious effort not to flinch as the princess focussed all her attention on him.

"What made you look on Bespin?" she asked suspiciously.

"That's…" Antilles threw a grin at Skywalker and replied glibly, "another long story." He indicated the _Falcon_ with his head and said, "I could use a lift back."

Leia opened her mouth to say something, changed her mind and closed it again. Her eyes told Antilles that she knew he wasn't telling her something, but that she was too mentally exhausted to fight him for it.

Luke nodded and indicated that they should board the ship.

"Rieekan has been very worried about you," Antilles told the princess as she entered the codes to lower the ramp. "He'll be very glad to have you back safe and sound."

Leia simply nodded and they boarded.

Antilles couldn't identify the species of the small creature that was waiting for them in the ring corridor and felt vaguely alarmed when Luke offhandedly introduced it as 'Yoda the Jedi Master'.

"Get her warmed, Wedge, and I'll be with you in a minute," Luke said as they reached the arm that led to the cockpit, then he followed the princess into the main hold.

Sensing they needed a moment alone, and trying not to feel intimidated by the small green creature that followed him, Antilles carried on to the cockpit and set the engines warming.

…..

Luke followed Leia to the bunkroom and watched as she secured the bag the Cloud City medic had given her in one of the drawers under the medbunk. The bag was full of drugs and instructions for decarbonising Solo. Despite the fact that she had spent time in the bunkroom during their twenty-one hour journey from Dagobah to Bespin, Luke felt sure Leia hadn't slept. He was aware that she had spent a large part of the journey in the 'fresher, vomiting. Recognised it as a reaction to what she had felt from Solo; the revelation had left Luke wanting to throw up too. But, in her current condition, Leia was far more susceptible. She looked exhausted.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep?" he suggested gently. "Wedge and I can fly the ship."

"To Tatooine?" Leia asked, standing up straight and facing him.

Luke considered for a moment then said, "I think we should go back to the fleet first," then added hurriedly as she opened her mouth to disagree, "So they can see you're okay."

Leia's expression darkened. "We've been through this, Luke."

"We agreed it would take too long to find the Alliance, yes," he said, "but Wedge found _us_."

"I'd still like to know how," Leia snapped.

Luke chose to ignore that topic for the moment and insisted, "You need to see a medic, Leia. If we go back to the Alliance you could see Gizela-"

"If we go back to the Alliance they won't let me leave to look for Han!"

"But you've been so sick," he insisted.

Luke was genuinely worried, not just for Leia's health but that of her child as well. And there was her safety to consider too. Who knew what sort of lengths the Emperor would go to in his attempts to capture Leia's child?

Although he knew she would be outraged, Luke couldn't help suggesting, "Maybe you should stay with the Alliance."

"I _knew_ it would come to this," Leia growled. "I'm pregnant, Luke, not an invalid. And I'm going to rescue Han whether you come with me or not."

Luke felt certain that if Leia took that path she would fail. Solo's rescue was something that needed serious planning.

"Leia, I've never seen you this sick," Luke told her, his voice thick with concern. "You've lost weight, you're not eating, you haven't stopped vomiting since we first left Bespin!"

"It's morning sickness, Luke. Vader's medic said it should stop at ten weeks…"

"And what are you?"

"Seven."

"Fine. A couple of weeks with the Alliance will give us time to plan and prepare properly, and give you time to get well."

Leia shook her head emphatically. "I'm not waiting two weeks! You felt Han too; you _know_ the sort of hell he's in! How could you even _suggest_ waiting two weeks?!"

"It could mean the difference between success and failure."

"He could be dead by then."

At any other time, the glare Leia gave him would have had Luke backing down, bowing to her greater knowledge and sophistication. But this time he stood his ground, secure in the belief that he was right.

He touched her face and said, "If something happened to you or your baby, Han would never forgive me. We're going back to the Alliance."

Leia jerked her face back out of his reach and snapped, "I outrank you, Commander. I could order you-"

Luke smiled and told her, "Sorry, Princess, I'm AWOL."

He turned and left the bunkroom and headed for the cockpit.

When he got there, Wedge Antilles was getting clearance from the port authority for their departure. He was sitting in Chewie's seat and Yoda was perched on the communication operator's seat behind him. For a moment Luke wondered what the Jedi Master might have said to Wedge, then dismissed his concerns and slid into Solo's seat. Luke felt Antilles glance at him and guessed he had heard the raised voices from the bunkroom, but busied himself with the procedures of raising ship. Questions and answers could be dealt with once they were safely in hyperspace.

…

In the bunkroom, Leia sat on the edge of the bunk and hung her head in her hands. In her head she knew Luke was right, but her heart just couldn't agree. Rescuing Han was something constructive she could focus on. Going back to the Alliance terrified her. Going back to the Alliance would require explanations from her, _confessions_ , which she just wasn't prepared to give. Having to explain her pregnancy would be hard enough, but the whole Vader thing… Just contemplating that increased her nausea exponentially.

She felt and heard the ship rumble in preparation for lift off and quickly decided that the distractions of the cockpit would be better than the current turmoil in her head, and hurried in that direction.

As she stepped into the cockpit, Luke told her curtly, "Strap in." Antilles managed to throw her a quick smile over his shoulder, but Luke didn't look at her. Watching them raise ship, Leia couldn't help thinking how _wrong_ they looked in Han and Chewie's seats. It just didn't seem _right_ having someone else fly the _Falcon_.

It was early afternoon Cloud City time, and Leia found the bright daylight a welcome contrast to her other views of it at dawn or sunset. Fewer memories.

Luke guided the _Falcon_ through the clouds and away from the planet and minutes later took them safely into hyperspace. Luke, Yoda and Antilles immediately relaxed, unbuckling their harnesses, but Leia didn't bother. She felt too tense and wound up to relax.

Antilles turned to face them and said, "Okay, _please_ tell me Solo's alive."

Leia felt Luke look at her, knew he was deferring to her, and she said stiffly, "He's alive. We think the bounty hunter took him to Tatooine."

"And Chewie?" Antilles wanted to know.

This time Leia deliberately deferred to Luke. She had heard Chewbacca taken out of his cell during her time in the detention centre on Vader's Star Destroyer, but she had no idea where he'd been taken.

"Chewie and Lando were shipped out together," Luke answered quietly. "For Kessell."

"Crap," was Antilles succinct appraisal, and Leia couldn't help thinking, _This is all my fault_. _Even Chewie thought so_ … She wanted to ask Wedge how he had known to look for them on Bespin, but was afraid to ask.

"Alright, start at the beginning," Antilles told Luke, then smiled and added seriously, "Consider it a practice for your de-briefing. Where did you go after Hoth?"

Luke threw a pointed glance at Yoda and said, "I found a Jedi Master."

Antilles looked warily at Yoda, started to say something then changed his mind and said simply, "How?"

"The Force," Luke muttered dismissively.

"How far away is the Fleet?" Leia asked, wanting to change the subject. "Did most of the Hoth cell get away?"

"Most of the transports got away. We lost a lot of ground troops." Antilles regarded her carefully. "There were reports of the _Falcon_ flying into the asteroid belt."

Leia nodded. "We got away from Hoth and then the hyperdrive blew. We limped to Bespin and Vader was waiting for us."

"How did he know you were there?"

"I don't know. Maybe we were followed?" Leia wiped a hand across her face. "There were so many… problems… with the _Falcon_."

Antilles looked at Luke. "Why did you go to Bespin?"

"Vader wants me," Luke replied.

Leia could hear the reluctance in his voice and suspected Antilles would too.

"He captured Han and Leia and tortured them because he knew I would feel it through the Force," Luke continued. "Would rush to help them…"

There was a long pause and Antilles finally encouraged, "And?"

Leia looked at Luke, wondering how much he intended to tell his Rogue Squadron friend, and sensed he wasn't about to continue. For all his talk of accepting their parentage, it seemed Luke was not prepared to share the 'good news' just yet.

"We were all captured," she told Antilles flatly.

"And?" he said again when nothing more seemed to be forthcoming.

"We escaped," Luke said matter-of-factly, then climbed out of his seat and left the cockpit. A moment later, Yoda followed him.

Leia watched Antilles expression turn into one of consternation as he watched them leave, then he looked at her and asked, "How?"

"Luke used the Force," she told him honestly. "That's as much as I know, Wedge."

….

After an hour alone in the cockpit, and aware that Luke, Leia and the Jedi Master were sleeping, Wedge Antilles decided to break the monotony of their twelve-hour hyperspace journey skimming through the data that Lobot had given him.

Unlike the very selective data on Chambers' datachip, this one showed him everything. The _Falcon's_ arrival, the Wookiee working on the _Falcon_ with the Cloud City crew while Solo and the princess 'played' in the apartment's massive bed. Their dinner together, every word crystal clear…

If he'd ever had any doubts about the seriousness of Han and Leia's relationship, or Solo's feelings towards the Princess of Alderaan, Antilles had none now. There was no question that Solo loved her. Which made their betrayal and capture the morning following their intimate dinner even more tragic.

The data was multi-level, showing him each of the subjects under scrutiny on separate information threads and, when they were together, showing them from a variety of angles. That was, until Solo and Chewbacca were being tortured. At that point the princess' surveillance suddenly stopped, and didn't resume until she was thrown back into the cell with Solo and the Wookiee. Antilles couldn't help wondering what the Imperials had done to her while the smugglers were being tortured, and why it hadn't been recorded.

He watched with utter disbelief as Vader tested the carbonite freezing on Solo. How could anyone survive something like that? No wonder the princess was so traumatised! Then he watched with total shock as Luke willingly stepped up to battle Darth Vader! With lightsabres no less! It was hardly surprising that Lobot thought Skywalker had been killed…

That was where the recording finished. There was no footage of Vader successfully carbon-freezing Luke. No footage of their escape from Bespin. Nevertheless, Antilles knew that Rieekan would be grateful for the data. Particularly as he sincerely doubted that Luke or Leia would be very informative about what had happened. In fact the data would probably speed up the debriefing process for them. __But how anyone would tell the princess about the existence of the data, Wedge couldn't imagine. On top of everything else, it was a blow she might well crumble under.

He tried to equate the tired and fragile looking woman he'd found on Bespin with the one he'd seen on the pornographic datachip and couldn't. But then he couldn't equate the girl who'd been rolling around with Solo in that datachip with the coolly efficient princess he knew __either. And the woman currently sleeping in the _Falcon's_ bunkroom was neither.

Luke and Leia were at odds too, that much was obvious. Leia understandably wanted to rush off to rescue Solo while Luke was being the voice of reason. Fall back, regroup, and prepare a successful attack. Fighter pilot strategy.

Yet Antilles could understand the princess' reticence to return to the Alliance. Once she was back in the 'fold,' the hierarchy would not want to let her go. Especially not to rescue a _smuggler_. Antilles realised that the princess wasn't the only one who had changed; Luke's familiar exuberance had gone. Whatever had happened to him during their capture had left deep scars and, if what the princess had said was true, Luke's small time with his 'Jedi Master' had made him powerful.

The Jedi Master himself was an enigma, and Wedge wasn't sure how the Alliance would feel about him. Could they trust a Jedi who had inexplicably escaped the Jedi purge?

Grieving for his friends, Wedge sighed.


	8. Chapter 8

FAMILY MATTERS

By Leela Starsky.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The _Millennium Falcon's_ arrival back with the Alliance was met with much fuss. A crowd had gathered around the ship before the ramp was properly down, and generals Rieekan and Madine were waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp. Leia watched their consternation grow as they realised that Solo and the Wookiee were not on board.

Luke had made her promise to see Gizela before they were de-briefed, but Leia didn't think she would have a choice. She and Luke were too much of a security risk. Leia forced herself to smile for Rieekan; he looked so relieved to see her. Madine looked suspicious as usual, particularly when Yoda had appeared on the ramp.

"Where's Solo?" the blonde general snapped.

"Han and Chewbacca were captured," Luke replied, and Leia suspected he'd deliberately left off the 'sir'.

Leia let Rieekan embrace her and wondered whether she and Luke would have joint or separate de-briefings. But, before she had time to think, let alone contact a medic, Leia found herself redirected into the Supreme Commander's office as Luke and the generals continued on to the de-briefing room.

Feeling perturbed, Leia settled in for what she surmised would be a mini-debriefing. Either that or the Supreme Commander wanted to inundate her with information about the current state of the Rebellion. Information the princess just wasn't in the right frame of mind to process. Nevertheless, Leia decided that she could use the opportunity to request official leave to rescue Solo. She didn't think her chances of being granted the leave were very high, but felt compelled to try and do things the 'right' way to start with.

Looking at the head of the Alliance, Leia couldn't help wondering what the woman considered so urgent that it demanded her attention _now_.

"You wanted to see me, Supreme Commander?"

"Yes. Leia, there's something you need to be made aware of before we go in to the de-briefing," the woman told her without meeting her eyes, then indicated the chair opposite. "Please sit."

Leia sat as Mon Mothma inserted a datachip into her computer, and found herself wondering about the significance of the Supreme Commander calling her by just her first name. She couldn't remember the last time the Chandrilese former senator had called her simply 'Leia'. It was always 'Princess' or 'Princess Leia'.

Mon Mothma turned the screen so that Leia could see it as well. "This was bought on Negavan by one of the Rouge Squadron pilots," the woman told her.

Leia frowned at Mon Mothma, then at the screen as she waited for the image to appear. She suspected the Supreme Commander was attempting to get her interested in the Rebellion's next military action by showing her some outrage or injustice perpetrated by the Empire. Was already rehearsing what she would say to the woman as an explanation for her non-participation when the screen came to life.

Leia leaned forward a little to see better and her eyes widened with shock as she immediately recognised the room on the screen. Not to mention the couple enthusiastically copulating on the bed in the middle of it. Nausea slammed into Leia full force and she put a hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp of shock.

"It was brought to our attention several weeks ago – out of concern for your safety. The pilot in question thought it might help us to find you and it was, in fact, how you were traced to Bespin.

"As far as I know, this is the only copy on the base," Mon Mothma continued conversationally, "but I could be wrong." She might have been discussing the catering for the next official function.

Leia could not have felt more devastated. As if discovering the Imperials had been watching her most intimate moments with Han on Cloud City hadn't been bad enough, now it seemed the bastards had sold their surveillance data galaxy wide. She looked at the Supreme Commander, her expression one of horror and mortification, and found herself being coldly scrutinised. There was no pity or understanding in the woman's eyes, just disappointment and condemnation.

Leia looked back at the screen to see that the image had shifted to a close up of Han's passion filled face as he enthusiastically mouthed her breast. Leia winced as she heard her own encouraging whispers. She closed her eyes momentarily, struggling to suppress her body's urge to vomit, and attempted to disassociate herself from the couple on the screen. Tried to regain control of her emotions by pretending it was someone else.

Then she heard Mon Mothma say, "I felt it was necessary to make you aware of the data's existence as it will be a major component of the de-briefing."

Leia tried to ignore the animalistic grunts from herself and Han on the screen as she forced herself to meet the Supreme Commander's eyes. Not content with simply taking Han from her, Vader had taken her most private moments with Han and turned them into something cheap, tawdry and disgusting. And while she knew Vader probably wasn't responsible for the data's distribution into the general populace, he obviously hadn't done anything to stop it either.

And now Mon Mothma was capitalising on it.

"This was an Imperial Surveillance recording," Leia told her flatly.

"I am aware of that," the woman replied. "A lot of time was spent studying it to find out where it had been recorded and the sort of security risk it might represent to the Alliance."

With dismay Leia realised that the data had been analysed to the finest degree by goddess knew how many people… She looked back at the screen and felt her gorge rise; had to swallow several times before it settled back into her stomach and sat there like a huge lump. For a moment she wondered how many people had seen the data but dismissed it as something she had no control over. The fact that the Supreme Commander was now attempting to _shame_ her with it infuriated her.

One thing was certain; whether or not the Alliance defeated the Empire eventually, there was no chance of her having a career in politics after this. There was certainly no way she would be taken seriously among Rebel Alliance hierarchy any longer. Leia swallowed bitterly. So Vader had killed her life with the Rebellion too. Steadily taken everything from her until all she was left with was herself.

It was almost liberating.

For a moment Leia wondered whether she should really ruin the Supreme Commander's day and tell her about the pregnancy, but swiftly decided it was none of Mon Mothma's business.

Leia heard herself shriek delightedly on the small screen between them, and couldn't help watching as Solo rolled them so that she was on top. Leia-on-screen then proceeded to rock her hips enthusiastically in his lap, ardently and eagerly fucking her lover.

"This is an Imperial Surveillance recording," Leia repeated irritably. "Han scanned for surveillance devices as soon as we arrived-"

"Of course he did," the Supreme Commander agreed without looking at her and the sarcastic edge to her comment was unmistakable.

Leia stiffened angrily. "I am _not_ going to apologise to you or anyone else for something Han and I thought we were doing in _private_ ," she snapped. "The fact that it has since become an object of _pornography_ is nothing less than a complete violation of our rights! And to confront me with it the way you have…" Leia could feel Dark Force tingling at the edge of her awareness, beckoning her to use it, and felt even angrier that Mon Mothma could draw such a response from her. She glared at the woman. "Making it seem like we were committing some sort of _crime_ ," she finished. "How _dare_ you."

"I understand, Leia," the Supreme Commander said, suddenly placating, while she switched off the screen and removed the data chip. "Sometimes I forget how young you are. This was an error in judgement-"

The comment about her age infuriated Leia even more. "The only error in judgement I consider we committed was in trusting Han's scanner!" she told the woman hotly. "I _refuse_ to let you make me feel ashamed of what we did! Han and I were having sex. So what? Billions of humans do it everyday! Even if it had just been casual sex between us, you have _no right_ to treat me as though we were doing something-" Leia hunted for the right word then finished, " _depraved_!"

"No, I wouldn't call your behaviour 'depraved'," Mon Mothma agreed stiffly, "but I'm _sure_ your father would not have approved."

For a moment Leia was rendered speechless. She felt so angry that she was almost tempted to tell the woman who her _real_ father was. That it was her _real_ father who had ordered the surveillance, which had produced the data that had so horrified and scandalised the Supreme Commander.

But, instead, she felt a cold acceptance settle over her and got to her feet. "I herewith officially resign from the Alliance," she said flatly.

"Now, Leia-"

"After that recording," she told the Supreme Commander matter-of-factly, and indicated the now silent screen with her hand, " _no one_ is going to take me seriously. There is no place for me here."

"Leia, you're being unreasonable."

 _ **I'm**_ _being unreasonable?_ Leia thought, then smiled to herself. _I'm only just getting started!_

"I resign all rank and privileges," she continued, "and will leave Alliance sanctuary immediately following the debriefing."

Ignoring Mon Mothma's request to return to the desk, Leia headed for the door, but the door opened before she reached it to reveal Yoda standing on the other side. He fixed her with a gaze that told the princess in no uncertain terms that he had felt her brush with the Dark Side, then turned his attention on the Supreme Commander.

Mon Mothma's reaction was memorable to say the least. She got to her feet and regarded the Jedi Master with shock as she managed to stammer, "Master _Yoda_?"

 _So she knows him_ , Leia thought with profound curiosity. _How interesting_.

"Await you at the de-briefing we do," Yoda said in his distinctive manner, and Leia had no doubts that he meant both her and the Supreme Commander.

"I guess we'd better get a move on then?" Leia replied sarcastically, and was once again the recipient of Yoda's displeased gaze. She caught Mon Mothma glancing at her and could have sworn the woman looked guilty. _He makes her uncomfortable_ , Leia realised. _This is going to be_ _ **very**_ _interesting._

Stifling an arrogant smirk, Leia led the way out of Mon Mothma's office and into the room a little way down the corridor that was commonly used for higher level meetings and de-briefings.

"Here they are," Rieekan announced cheerfully as they entered, and smiled warmly at Leia.

The other generals, Dodonna and Madine, barely glanced at her as she entered the room and Leia found herself looking to Luke for reassurance, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. That was when she realised they'd already been watching the data from Bespin. The data Mon Mothma had just shown her.

 _Turn around_ , Leia told herself. _Turn around and walk out. You don't have to take this_.

Rieekan and Antilles were the only ones there who seemed prepared to look her in the eye; Antilles even started to smile at her. But the expression that flitted across Mon Mothma's face as she took her place at the head of the table was one that Leia could only describe as victorious.

The woman smiled coolly at everyone in the room and her smug confidence rekindled Leia's anger. Which ironically gave her own confidence a much-needed boost, and she forced herself to sit in the vacant seat beside Luke. Yoda had taken up position at the opposite end of the table from Mon Mothma, in a chair that had been adjusted for his size.

Madine jumped straight to the point. "Princess, the Supreme Commander has made you aware of the data we have in our possession?" Leia did not reply, her answer implicit in her silence. She made a point of activating the small screen in front of her so that she could see what they were referring to, and was faced with the frozen image of herself, Solo and Chewbacca in the cell on Cloud City. An image that triggered a physical response so painful that Leia almost couldn't breathe. Han was lying on the hard pallet, just returned from his session on the scan grid, and she was comforting him.

Madine carried on. "Commander Antilles has brought back an unedited version," he said. "One that shows your Imperial incarceration on Cloud City."

Leia was having trouble taking in his words. This was exactly how Solo had looked the last time she'd seen him. Haggard, traumatised… She jammed her hands between her knees so that the others wouldn't see how much they were shaking and wondered how Madine and his cronies had managed to watch so much of the new data already. It didn't occur to her, in her current state, that Antilles had been through the data already and had brought selective points to their attention.

"There is a discrepancy in the data we have of your time on Bespin," Madine continued. "A period of time while Solo and the Wookiee are being tortured when you are not under surveillance. We need to know exactly what happened to you in that time."

Leia swallowed and tried to recall her time with Vader dispassionately. "Vader took me to the surveillance room," she said. "Made me watch while they tortured Han." She looked across at the blonde general and found herself being coldly scrutinised. Just like Mon Mothma had done. Leia felt a deep-seated defiance flare up within her and there was a challenging note in her voice as she added, "Told me some stuff. The usual, you know."

"' _Told you some stuff_ '," Madine quoted, then smiled sarcastically and asked, "What _stuff_?"

Leia felt a sudden and irrational desire to tell him, but recognised it as a purely selfish desire to shock. Shock them all with the truth. But she curbed her desire and replied flatly, "He gloated about the surveillance; about watching Han and I." No one said anything, but she heard some of them shift uncomfortably in their chairs. Her eyes dared Madine to question what she meant and he averted his gaze.

Looking at the blonde general, Leia realised that the man's appearance had changed since she'd last seen him. She hadn't seen him for over two months and used the puzzle of trying to figure out exactly what had changed to distance herself from the trauma of the memories they were forcing her to dig up.

"Of course," she added sarcastically, "he didn't mention he was going to sell the surveillance galaxy _wide_."

Leia could _feel_ the discomfort in the room and wondered whether it was being amplified by the Force or if she was just more sensitive to the underlying tension.

Dodonna cleared his throat and switched off the data flowing to their screens. The image of Solo vanished as he asked, "And on Vader's ship?"

"I was locked up the entire time," Leia replied flatly. "I saw nothing and nobody until we got to Coruscant." She glanced sideways at her brother and added, "Not even Luke.

"I was brought before the Emperor briefly," she continued. "He seemed to find me very amusing until I almost succeeded in killing him with Vader's lightsabre." That declaration animated them somewhat, but Leia ignored their murmurs of disbelief and added, "Then he used Force lighting on me."

The revelation that the Emperor was a Force-user and, more particularly, a _Dark_ Force user was not lost on those present. They were definitely excited now, and started arguing about the ramifications. Yoda launched into a portentous dialogue about the Sith, but Leia found it difficult to keep her attention focussed on the discussion. The images Mon Mothma had forced on her kept repeating in her head. Over and over and _over_ … Han holding her, caressing her, _loving_ her.

The desperate ache she had been carrying in her heart since Solo had been put in carbonite suddenly became unbearable and she felt tears spring in her eyes. She wiped a hand across her face in an attempt to conceal the tears with a not entirely false display of tiredness, and felt the gentle touch of a hand on her leg.

Luke's hand. A subtle squeeze that told her he was there for her. A sign of affection and caring that made her desire to cry even stronger. Leia put her own hand over his and repeated the gesture. Solidarity between friends. Friends who had so recently discovered they were siblings as well as offspring of the second most evil being in the galaxy.

The pain around her heart intensified and Leia closed her eyes; felt a soothing balm through the Force from Luke and drew it to herself gratefully.

The questioning had shifted to their escape from Vader's Super Star Destroyer and now they were interrogating Luke about his Jedi training as well as about the Jedi Master he had brought back with him.

Looking at the small, green Jedi at the end of the table, Leia couldn't help wondering what their reactions to Yoda had been. She got the distinct impression that Mon Mothma was the only one who fully understood the ramifications of Yoda's re-emergence onto the political stage. But that could have been because the Supreme Commander was the only one among them who remembered the Jedi Master from the days before the Empire. The Jedi Master's agenda was anyone's guess, and Leia was looking forward to hearing his answers when the questioning turned to him.

They questioned Leia about her time on Dagobah and Leia expressed little but her irritation at being there when she should have been rescuing Solo. Luke had deliberately omitted any reference to her having Jedi abilities and Leia did not contradict him. Nor did Yoda, much to Leia's relief. She was more than happy for them to think she had ended up on Dagobah simply because Luke had insisted on going straight back to Yoda after escaping from Vader. And they seemed reassured that Luke had returned to his Jedi Master for guidance after spending time with Vader.

Thinking about Vader turned Leia's thoughts to the child in her womb and the difficult path ahead of her. The threat from the Emperor disturbed her deeply, and Leia sought the comfort and reassuring presence of her daughter, felt an answering caress. _I love you_ , she told her daughter silently. _No matter what happens, I will always love you._

Leia had come to the conclusion that Palpatine intended to make a Dark Jedi of the child she was carrying. A new Sith Lord. Not only was she Vader's genetic stock, the fact that Solo's mother had been a Jedi would doubtless add weight to the Jedi gene-pool coded into every cell of the child's body. It would increase her desirability to an irresistible level as far as the Emperor was concerned, and Yoda's portentous warnings that the child was already very strong with the Force simply confirmed that conclusion in Leia's mind.

For the first time, Leia seriously considered the course she would need to take to keep her child safe, and wondered what Han's suggested solution would be? Flee to the other side of the galaxy? An echo of the wish he had shared with her just before they'd reached Bespin came back to her: _The full fantasy; run away together_.

Leia raised her eyes to look at Yoda and then at Mon Mothma. Perhaps that was the answer?

Leia wondered if she could avoid telling the Alliance about her pregnancy. She had vowed to leave, so it was not something they needed to know. The thought of leaving the Alliance, of giving up what had essentially been her reason for living since Alderaan, was almost crippling. Yet, what else could she do? After the data that Mon Mothma had shown her…

Leia closed her eyes as the images flooded her brain once more and mingled with the treasured memories there. Seeing Han make love to her was bringing all her desperate feelings of loss to the fore. Her need to hold him, and be held by him, was all encompassing. And thinking about the torment she had felt from him on Dagobah…

Helplessness was not a feeling Leia Organa handled well, and the tears trickled out from under her lids despite her efforts to contain them, burning trails of scalding embarrassment down her cheeks. So she took refuge in controlling her emotions the most effective way she knew how: by summoning her anger. Anger she couldn't help but focus on the leaders of the Alliance, particularly Mon Mothma. To feel so belittled by someone she had looked up to and respected all her life left her seething.

 _I hate you_ , Leia thought vehemently, and opened her eyes to glare hotly at the object of her ire. Mon Mothma was completely focussed on the Jedi Master at the other end of the table, arguing about security.

 _I_ _ **hate**_ _you_.

Something slapped her hard enough that she saw stars and, bizarrely, Leia finally recognised what it was about Madine's appearance that had changed. The general had somehow sprouted a thick head of hair! For a man who had always kept his thinning hair clipped short, to find him with a sudden and obviously unnatural, thick head of hair was seriously amusing. _Han is going to have a field day with this one_ , she thought, then she slipped into unconsciousness.

….

Leia woke to find herself in the medcentre with no recollection of getting there. She was in a private room, under dim, sleep-shift lighting, and sitting at the end of her bed, _on_ her bed, was the Jedi Master.

Leia shifted, attempting to work moisture back into her tongue, while trying to remember how she had got here. Moving made her aware that she had something strapped to her left arm, and she paused to look at it. Raised her arm to confirm it was nothing more insidious than an infuser, then let her arm flop back onto the bedcovers.

She remembered the debriefing, or part of it. She thought she remembered getting angry…

Leia looked at the small, green Jedi on the end of her bed and decided that he was the reason she was in the medcentre.

"What'd you do to me?" she croaked dryly, and started to sit up.

Nausea crashed over her like a wave and she hastily covered her mouth, scrambled out of the bed and into the ensuite 'fresher. The down side of being hydrated was that it meant there was something in her stomach to throw up.

Some minutes later, she emerged from the 'fresher looking haggard and wrung out, and fell back onto the narrow bed, laying as she fell, too exhausted to be bothered rearranging herself into a comfortable position.

Was it really worth all this suffering? Did she want the child _that_ much?

Leia took a deep breath and dismissed the question as the irrational rambling of a woman at the end of her endurance. She twisted her head slightly and regarded the Jedi Master with one eye.

"Are you here to protect me, or to protect everyone else _from_ me?"

One ear twitched, but Yoda remained silent.

A medic entered the room, doubtless brought by her brief absence from the bed, and fussed checking her infuser and the bio-readings on the small screen behind the bed.

"How are you feeling, Princess?" the medic asked automatically.

"Terrible," Leia replied with feeling.

"Were you vomiting?" he asked and Leia nodded, realising he probably knew why.

"Can you give me something for the nausea?"

"You'll have to discuss that with Doctor Shalleron in the morning," he said. "Can I get you anything? A drink? Something to eat?"

The thought of putting food in her mouth almost made her retch again, yet Leia knew she was hungry.

"Soup?" she murmured hopefully.

"I'll see what I can do," the medic said, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Leia looked back at the Jedi and, sighing at the inevitability of the lecture she knew she was about to get, forced herself to sit up. Her stomach rolled, threatening to send her back to the 'fresher, and she hung her head in her hands and moaned to the universe in general, "Oh, goddess…"

She felt his approach down the bed and opened her eyes to find herself looking at two scaly, clawed feet. She stared at the feet for a moment then, summoning her courage and resolve, raised her eyes to meet his. And saw in them a very deep concern.

"Much anger in you, Leia Organa," he said portentously. "Like your father."

The first words he'd said to her. On Dagobah. Leia felt her mood darken in direct response and growled, "Did you just come here to insult me, or are you here to tell me something constructive?"

"Return with me you must," he told her matter-of-factly.

"What?" He wanted her to go back to the swamp?

"Return with me now or walk your father's path you will."

Leia felt a genuine stab of fear. She could _feel_ the truth in his words. And in them found an answer to the dilemma of keeping her child safe. She would run away to Dagobah and stay there for as long as it took. Until her daughter was grown if necessary.

But first she had to rescue Han.

"I have to find Han," she said. "But I promise-" Her words trailed off as Yoda lowered his gaze sadly. "Master Yoda," she said, using his title for the first time, "I _promise_ I'll come."

His eyes met hers once more. "Paid for his arrogance with his hand, your brother did; what will the cost for you be? If you walk the Dark path, Leia Organa, take your child with you, you will. Will your lover thank you then?"

Leia buried her head against her knees and fisted her hands in her hair, her face screwed into an expression of torment as she relived Han's agony.

"You're asking me to _choose_ between Han and my daughter?" she said through clenched teeth.

"Others there are who can save your lover," he said.

"No!" she said reflexively, then felt a calm certainty settle over her and looked at him as she repeated, "No." She found herself searching his gaze as she said with conviction, "If I don't go he'll die." She looked away for a moment, stunned at her own surety, then looked back to see evasive regret in the Jedi Master's eyes. "And you know that. Don't you?"

Yoda dropped his gaze to her belly and admitted, "Concerned you will do the Emperor's work for him I am."

"Do you think I would do anything to endanger my daughter?"

"To save your lover? Yes."

Leia opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "Like your mother," he said gravely. "Saved your father, but nearly lost you in the process."

Leia sat back aghast. So Yoda had _known_ her mother was pregnant, had _known_ she was not Bail's child. All these years…

Sudden revelation swept over her and she said, " _You_ put the blocks in my head. To stop me from using the Force. To protect me from Vader."

"With your mother's help and consent," Yoda admitted.

Leia looked away, into her past, as so much of it unexpectedly made sense. When she looked at him again her eyes were full of reluctant gratitude. "You saved my life on the Death Star," she said softly, and Yoda inclined his head briefly, a humble acceptance of her appreciation.

The door hissed open and the medic entered carrying a food pack. He eyed the small Jedi suspiciously then smiled at Leia as he handed her the package.

"It's a green soup," he told her apologetically, "but it was the best I could do."

Leia gave him a reassuring smile and said as she unsealed the package, "I'm sure it'll be fine." But the moment she looked at the yellowy-green liquid, Leia knew it wouldn't be.

The air triggered a thermal reaction to a chemical in the soup, heating it in her hand and, a moment later the soup's distinctive aroma reached her. Leia thrust it back at the medic and fled to the 'fresher.

The medic smiled apologetically at the Jedi Master. "I think it's the colour," he said. "Human women do it every time. Pregnant ones anyway." He looked awkwardly at the pack in his hand then at the 'fresher door. "I'll go see if I can find something else," he muttered.

Leia emerged warily from the 'fresher a moment later and winced as she realised she could still smell the soup. She found herself longing for the soup that was on the _Falcon_ and wondered if they'd let her out of the medcentre to go get some.

The medic returned as she was climbing into the bed and she eyed him doubtfully.

"Dry biscuits," he assured her, handing her another package and a large cup. "And sweet, carbonated lemon." Leia pulled a face and he assured her, "I've been told many times it's the best cure for nausea." He shrugged. "Maybe it's the sugar? It seems to work though."

Leia took a tentative sip of the sweet, fizzy drink, then another. And another. Then she burped. She looked at the medic and realised that she did feel marginally better.

He smiled. "Call me if you need anything," he said, and left the room.

Leia took a decent swig of the fizzy lemon and decided to give the biscuits a try. Tentatively nibbling on one, she turned her attention back to Yoda.

"What now?" she asked.

"When well enough to travel you are, return to my world we will," he said.

"After we rescue Han," she corrected.

Yoda sighed heavily. "Come see you later I will," he said, and climbed off the bed.

Leia watched him leave and felt profound relief as the door closed behind him. She felt as though even her thoughts were under scrutiny whenever he was around.

Yoda hadn't answered her question of whether he had caused her abrupt departure from the debriefing, and she deliberately hadn't asked him again. But, if the chrono beside her bed was to be believed, she had been 'asleep' for at least eight hours. Something that had to have been Force or chemical induced. Leia wanted to talk to Gizela, and she wanted to talk to Luke. She took another drink of lemon and wondered how cross her brother would be if she woke him. Perhaps he would bring her some soup from the _Falcon_?

She turned and looked at the bio-display beside the bed and wondered if she'd been scanned. Wondered if her baby had been scanned. Wondered if she could access Solo's file and find out when he'd had his last contraceptive shot.

Although Leia had accepted her pregnancy, she still wanted to know _how_ it had happened. Yoda's appraisal that it was Force inspired just wasn't good enough; Leia _had_ to have a scientific explanation. Despite the fact that she and Gizela Shalleron had been friends for several years now, Leia fully expected to be reprimanded by the woman for being irresponsible enough to get pregnant. She remembered her own outrage when Gizela had offered her a contraceptive shot before she and Solo had gone on their ill-fated mission to Ord Mantell. Like the rest of the base, it seemed Gizela had assumed that she and Solo would finally 'do it' enroute. They hadn't of course, but the irony was that if she _had_ taken the offered contraceptive at the time, she wouldn't be pregnant now.

Leia suspected that Gizela would offer to terminate her pregnancy and wondered how she would justify her own unwillingness to comply. Terminating it would solve so many problems, starting with the Emperor and whatever he had planned for the child. But, having _felt_ her daughter, touched her soul so to speak, Leia knew she would fight to the death for her.

She finished the last biscuit, washing it down with the last of the carbonated drink, and contemplated her room for a moment. Still feeling hungry, she decided to go in search of more, and hoped the night medic would leave her alone.

Opening the door, Leia peered out into the main medcentre area. There were several patients on the critical beds in the main area, and all of them appeared to be asleep. The medic station was unattended, and she guessed he was with another patient. As she oriented herself to the familiar surroundings, Leia couldn't believe her luck. She was in the room beside Gizela's office. Which _had_ to have been Gizela's doing. Making sure there was no sign of the night medic, Leia closed the door to her room, ducked into Gizela Shalleron's office and closed the door behind her. If the medic noticed the alert on his screen that she was out of her bed, with any luck he would simply assume she was in her 'fresher throwing up the biscuits and fizzy lemon.

With the practiced ease of someone who was used to accessing information illegally, Leia matter-of-factly sat in her friend's chair and activated her terminal. Normally she would have been able to access the data using her own high-ranking codes. This time, however, she had to assume that, until she was cleared as a risk to Alliance security, using her own codes would register as a security breach, lock her out completely, and have security down here investigating the attempted breach. And there was also the chance that Mon Mothma had taken her resignation seriously, in which case her personal codes would definitely be locked out.

Unwilling to take the risk, Leia spent the extra time and hacked into the system the underhanded way. She knew Gizela would not be pleased, but that was something she could ignore. A moment later she accessed her own file and scrolled quickly through the data until she reached the most recent entry. Gizela had given her a full, comprehensive scan. Not taking any chances, it seemed.

The first shock came when she realised that Gizela had given her daughter a file name of 'Organa-Solo', and her immediate reaction was to wonder how her friend had known Solo was the father. She felt an automatic affront at the medic's assumption, then realised that the data from Bespin was a pretty good clue.

Leia wasn't sure how she felt about giving her child that label; Organa-Solo sounded so… _married_. She couldn't help wondering what Han would think about it. Would he be affronted that his name had been used? Or pleased?

The second shock came with seeing the scanned image of the child growing inside her. Leia was aghast at how much like a _baby_ she looked. The body was small in proportion to the head, but Leia could see the child's arms and legs quite clearly; could even make out fingers and toes. She wondered what she had expected to see? Some sort of blob perhaps?

The child on the screen was moving constantly; rolling and kicking, and Leia stared at her in awe. Here was the presence she had been feeling since Dagobah. Seeing her like this made the child more _real_ somehow, more _alive_. Leia pressed her hand against her belly and wondered if her daughter was moving like that right now. And, if so, why she couldn't feel the acrobatics.

As an afterthought, she studied the written data beside the picture. It gave her all her daughter's current statistics as well as the results from the various tests Gizela had run. She didn't understand all of them but, from what she could tell, her daughter seemed perfect. She had ten fingers and ten toes, two eyes, two ears, a mouth, a nose…

Leia frowned and increased the magnification on the child's face, then gazed in wonderment at her daughter's features and found herself suddenly overcome with emotion. Astounded that she and Han had created something so complex. So perfect.

Without trying.

She reduced the image back to its original magnification and noticed an estimated delivery date at the bottom of the screen. A date that was only five months away, which was a frightening prospect. No, Leia corrected herself, not frightening: __ _terrifying_. From the little she knew about childbirth, it was anything but pleasant and potentially dangerous for mother and baby.

This was something to take into consideration if she was seriously planning to run away to Dagobah. The prospect of giving birth in a swamp was anything but appealing. What if there were complications? And if she left the Alliance, what medcentre could she go to? Where would she be safe?

Leia rested her elbows on the desk and hung her head in her hands. Her life had always been complex, but these new complications made her old life look positively simple. So much to worry about. And to make ninety percent of it go away, all she had to do was terminate the pregnancy.

And that was out of the question.

She was lost in thought, staring at the image on the screen, when the door opened. Leia looked up guiltily, then felt a slight lessening of her guilt when she realised it was Gizela standing in the doorway. She started to offer an apologetic smile, but quickly smothered it as her friend's expression turned even stormier.

Leia hastily got to her feet as she said, "I was just-"

"I don't want to hear it," Gizela snapped. She moved in behind her desk as Leia stepped away, and checked to see what files the princess had been looking at. Gizela Shalleron was only a little taller than Leia, with fiery red hair and a Corellian temperament.

"Interfering in medical records is worthy of a court martial, Princess," the medic said darkly, and Leia frowned at her friend. It was unlike Gizela to react with such hostility.

"I didn't-"

"You _did_!" Gizela hissed angrily. "If anyone but me had walked in that door, Leia, you'd be under arrest right now." She sat, indicating for Leia to do the same. "And I am _livid_ that you would put _my staff_ in the position of having to report you!"

Leia remained standing. "I looked at my own file. Nothing else," she said.

"It didn't occur to you to call me?"

"The night medic said I could talk to you in the morning…I didn't want to wake you."

"As it so happens, I wasn't in bed, but I would much rather have had the chance to tell you to piss off and be patient than be called in by one of my staff who didn't want the responsibility of reporting you. I have a medcentre full of patients, Leia; I really _do_ have better things to do."

"I'm sorry," Leia said contritely, and started for the door. "I'll go." Her friend's reaction was totally unexpected and she intended to return to her room so she could put as much space between them as possible. Until Gizela had calmed down at least.

But the medic got to her feet. "You'll _sit_ ," she said firmly, pointing at the chair on the other side of the desk. When Leia didn't leap to obey, the redhead stabbed her finger at the chair and repeated, "Sit!"

Leia sat and Gizela settled once more, checking the file Leia had left open.

"You've had a look, I see." Leia nodded and Gizela continued, "The pregnancy itself seems perfectly healthy. There's no damage or scarring from the genetic testing. The placenta is in an excellent position and is functioning perfectly."

"Why can't I feel her?" Leia asked.

"You'll start to feel her from about 14 weeks," Gizela said. "Maybe earlier, but with a first it's usually 14 weeks. She's six centimetres long – perfect for seven weeks gestation." Abruptly she looked up from the data-screen at Leia, her expression serious. "You do have options you know."

Leia knew exactly what the medic was suggesting and told her flatly, "I'm not going to terminate, Giz."

"I'm not just talking termination, Leia. You also have the option of putting the pregnancy on hold so to speak. Remove the foetus and place it in cryogenic suspension. That way you can replant it in your uterus when you feel the time is right or, if you so choose, find a surrogate womb."

Leia found herself unable to breathe as a hot wave washed over her, followed by a surge in the ever-present nausea. _Freeze_ her baby? The similarity to what had happened to Han made it unthinkable. She put a hand over her mouth as her stomach heaved and was unable to make eye contact with her friend.

"Nausea bad, hmm?" she heard Gizela ask, and nodded.

"Can you give me something?" Leia asked from behind her hand.

Gizela sighed and said apologetically, "If this was an Imperial medcentre, yes. But, as you know, we only have the bare essentials. And hormonal nausea treatment is just not something you stock for in a triage situation."

Leia nodded. So she would suffer the nausea.

"I've heard it's the worst part of the whole pregnancy deal if that's any encouragement," Gizela said.

Leia closed her eyes for a moment, willing the nausea down, and tried to distract herself by thinking about something else.

"How did you know?" she asked, then clarified, "About the tests."

"Luke told me when they brought you in here. To tell you the truth, I'm surprised you're still pregnant. That particular test invariably results in the loss of the embryo."

"Then why am I still pregnant?"

Gizela considered for a moment, then admitted, "I honestly don't know. Luck? The two weeks of enforced bed-rest that you had on the _Executor_ would have helped."

There was a lengthy silence between them, then the doctor asked, "Have you thought of a name for her yet?"

Leia shook her head. "Han told me he was sterile," she said quietly, knowing she needed to ask the question that had been plaguing her since she'd discovered she was pregnant.

Gizela frowned. "He should have been," she agreed and busied herself at the terminal. "He's been having the con-shot for years…"

"Ten years, he told me. I thought maybe he'd missed his last shot?"

Gizela had obviously called up Solo's file because she spent a moment reading then shook her head. "Nope. He had it just after we got to Hoth."

"Then _how_ am I pregnant?"

Gizela appeared genuinely flummoxed. "I have no idea." She read further down his file then said, "Wait a minute…"

 _Here we go_ , Leia thought cynically. _The great medical fuck-up that caused it all._

"He had an exceptionally long bacta emersion after that cave-in you were both caught in."

Leia nodded. "He nearly died."

"It doesn't make sense though…" Gizela muttered.

"What?"

"Well, the bacta washed the contraceptive out of his system."

"It did?" Leia was alarmed. That was a side effect she would need to keep in mind for the future.

"The problem is," Gizela continued, "Han's been on this so long he's effectively sterile."

"Obviously," Leia muttered churlishly.

"Even with it being washed out of his system it should have taken him at _least_ four months to reach full potency." Gizela frowned across the desk at Leia. "If he'd been _trying_ to get you pregnant, it probably would have taken at least a year."

"So… what are you telling me?"

"I'm telling you he didn't lie," Gizela said firmly, and met her eyes to add emphasis to her words.

"Then _how_?"

"The only thing I can think of is that it had something to do with whatever it was that brought him back from the brink of death. That was nothing short of a miracle. And for him to achieve such high potency in such a short time..."

Leia blanched as she abruptly remembered her unwitting use of the Force that had brought Solo back from the dead. The way it had healed him completely; even cured his frostbite… and Gizela's astonishment that he had seemed healthier than before.

The medic sensed her unease immediately. "What?" she asked. "What have you thought of?"

The pregnancy was her own doing Leia realised suddenly, albeit unknowing. The bacta had removed the contraceptive from Solo's system, but _she_ had returned him to full potency. Luke's little Jedi Master had insisted the conception was Force inspired and it seemed he was right.

"It was me," Leia confessed. She sighed and wiped a hand across her face, and muttered, "Goddess, I did it to myself!"

"You're not making sense yet."

"I have the Force, Gizzy," Leia admitted.

"The _Force_?"

"Luke said it was me at the time and it turns out he was right. I _healed_ Han somehow and-"

"Are you _serious_?" Gizela's disbelief was palpable and she almost laughed.

It was the sort of reaction Leia herself would have been guilty of not so long ago. It was the sort of reaction she had given Luke when he'd first voiced his suspicions about Solo's miraculous recovery. Leia's expression told her friend that she thought it was anything but funny and Gizela hastily stilled the humour in her voice.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, "it's just so-"

Leia shook her head tiredly. "It's all right, Giz. The whole thing is insane." A thought occurred to her and she asked, "What happened in the debriefing? How did I end up here?"

"You fainted."

Leia regarded her sceptically and wondered whether her friend believed that or if she thought she was protecting her. Leia knew she hadn't fainted. Something had hit her.

"Is that why the Jedi is here?" Gizela asked. "Because of you?"

Leia nodded reluctantly. _He doesn't trust me_ , she thought. _He thinks I'm going to go bad_ …

"And the baby," Leia said. "He wants to protect her."

"From?"

"The Emperor."

"The Emperor?! What does he want her for?"

"He wants to make another Darth Vader out of her."

"He thinks she's Force sensitive, too?"

"He doesn't _think_ it, Giz." Leia sighed and admitted sadly, "Yoda, Luke, Vader. Even Palpatine. They could all sense her."

Gizela sounded deeply disturbed as she opined, "That is seriously creepy." She considered for a moment, then asked, "And you have it too? Why wasn't this picked up when you were a child? Weren't you tested?"

"Yoda put a block on me as a child. Made sure I didn't…manifest."

Gizela immediately leapt to the conclusion, "Because of the purges!"

Leia wanted to tell her friend the truth; longed to share the burden, but this involved Luke too and telling someone else, bringing it into this part of her life, would make it far too real. Instead she took refuge in her friend's assumption and simply nodded.

"How's Luke?" she asked, deliberately changing the subject.

Gizela smiled as she replied, "Considering what he's been through, he's doing remarkably well."

"Is his hand-"

"They did an amazing job with his hand," Gizela said. "We'd have been hard pressed to do anything near that standard. He's very lucky."

 _Lucky_? Leia couldn't even comprehend the term in reference to what they'd been through, but before she could say something to that effect Gizela admitted, "I was just watching the Bespin data that Antilles brought back. Seeing Luke go up against Vader like that… It's a wonder he's alive at all."

Leia felt her face burn with embarrassment and picked at imaginary imperfections in the weave of her pants so she wouldn't have to meet Gizela's eyes. Nevertheless, she growled darkly, "Mon Mothma was very selective in the part she showed me."

Gizela winced and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry," she said.

"I've resigned, you know."

Whatever Gizela had been expecting her to say, it wasn't that. Leia could hear the surprise and confusion in her voice as she said, "You what?"

"From the Alliance."

The medic considered her response for a moment before replying carefully, "Leia, the Alliance is your _life_."

Leia still couldn't meet her friend's eyes.

"You resigned because of that data?" Gizela clarified, then assured her gently, "It was an Imperial Surveillance recording, Leia. There was nothing you could have done about it."

"I know, I know. I just wish…Mon Mothma saw it that way."

"So, your resignation was a reaction to her showing you this?"

"Among other things."

"Like being pregnant," Gizela surmised.

Leia wished that her pregnancy was the only reason, and said, "Like having to find Han."

Gizela wiped a hand across her face and muttered, "I can't believe he's alive either."

The pain and terror she had felt from Solo washed over Leia afresh and she told the doctor in a voice that brooked no argument, "He is."

Nevertheless, from the expression that flitted across the doctor's face, Leia got the distinct impression that her friend was allowing her the fantasy of believing she could rescue Han. Anything to help her cope with the loss.

Well, if Leia had her way, she and Luke would be on their way to Tatooine by tomorrow morning, and the Alliance could make of it whatever they wanted.


	9. Chapter 9

FAMILY MATTERS

By Leela Starsky.

CHAPTER NINE.

Luke had just finished the final pre-flight check when he saw her approaching across the flight deck. For a moment he considered using the Force to obscure her from anyone else who happened to be on the flight deck but, at this hour of the night, there really wasn't anyone else around. Besides, using the Force would alert Yoda, and Luke didn't want the Jedi Master joining them.

He met her in the ring corridor as she boarded the _Falcon_ and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Leia smiled tightly and replied, "Same as ever." Then added emphatically, "Relieved to be doing something at last."

Smiling, Luke touched her face. "I love you," he told her, his voice thick with emotion. "Always have, always will."

She took a step back, putting a little distance between them, and Luke sensed a resurgence in her concern that he might love her in a way that would damage their relationship. Luke drew her into an unconditional embrace, and reassured her, "You're my _sister_ , Leia, and I am _so_ glad I found you!"

He felt her relax and return the embrace wholeheartedly.

"I love you too, Luke," she whispered, and Luke had trouble reconciling this princess with the one he had been arguing with in the medcentre a few hours ago. The one who could accept that Yoda had done something to her in the debriefing, but flatly refused to believe her brother's explanation of _why_ the Jedi Master had intervened.

That she had started to Force-choke Mon Mothma.

Luke had felt it, Yoda had felt it and, fortunately, Mon Mothma had only just started to feel it when Yoda had rendered the princess unconscious. Leia was treading a fine line, Luke knew and, holding her now, felt sure that she, as much as the child she was carrying, was the reason Yoda had come with them.

But rescuing Han was something that had to be done, and there was no way Leia would let Luke do that without her.

So they headed for the cockpit together and Luke asked, "How did you get away?"

"I came to get soup," she said smugly, throwing him a grin over her shoulder. "Told them it was the only thing I could keep down. Which is true," she added as an afterthought. She settled into Chewbacca's seat and asked, "What about you?"

"Gizela knows I'm going," Luke said as he brought the ship's engines online. "Gave me a kit of stuff for Han." He paused then added, "Made me promise to bring you back safe."

Leia gave him a wary glance, then busied herself with the pre-flight protocols. When that was finished she turned and smiled at him.

"Let's go then."

Continued in the next instalment… "Tatooine."


End file.
